Pre-Gordon Bennett Activity

After a demanding 40 hours of travel from Australia – delayed flights, missed flights we finally reached Bottrop close to Dusseldorf in Germany and where our rental home is for the next 16 days.

Day 1 – Through a fog of mist I lifted the balloon trailer lid and saw the wicker basket that will be Tanys and my home for the duration of our Gordon Bennett flight. It was bigger than I had imagined – a pleasant surprise. With help from Axel, John, Becca and Tanys we cleaned sand from the wicker still there from its previous gas balloon flight. Wilhelm Eimers (Willi to his friends) and highly experienced gas balloon pilot offered his recommendation for the set up of our basket to give us more comfort.

Today was only a glimpse of our ballooning gear. Tomorrow we shall rest more to recover our energy – go shopping for bits and pieces.

If the Russian team who are also here in Gladbeck decide to fly this evening Team AUS 1 will
help with their inflation, wave them off then head back to our beds.

We plan a weekend flight.

What will tomorrow bring?

Photos courtesy Axel Krischbach