Up, up, up in our beautiful balloons

NEW LOOK: Peg Leg Pete the Pirate Parrot dwarfs the crowd.

It's just before light is about to break and Carrington Park is slowly filling with balloons, spectators, passengers and pilots.

The Peg Leg Pete the Pirate Parrot balloon is a drawcard, for the young and old, and is first to inflate. It is definitely impressive at 27m tall.

After waking up early, although probably not as early as a farmer, I'm a bit bleary-eyed and it is hard to believe what looks like a giant colourful sleeping bag is going to take me several hundred metres high in about 20 minutes.

Mark Brown, the pilot of the Hamilton ZK-UUP, asks for a couple of volunteers to hold up the sides of the envelope (the balloon) so an influx of air from a big fan can kick-start the inflation.

I hold up a side and find it is surprisingly heavy - I'm told it weighs more than 250kg.

Mark and his wife Wendy run the Kiwi Balloon Company, the only commercial balloon company in the North Island.

Wendy tells me her son had been enthusiastic about the sport and she got involved in the Waikato Hot Air Balloon Club, where she met Mark.

The couple does it for the love of it - Wendy says one of the big things for them is seeing the enjoyment on people's faces.

As the balloons are inflated and begin to take shape, filling the park, my eyes widen like the children around me.

The hugeness of the balloons is more apparent up close.

When I climb into the basket, with five other people, I feel slightly nervous.

The burner lets out a roar, filling the envelope with more hot air. This balloon takes 2000 basketballs worth of air to fill.

As we lift off gently, the view is brilliant. We rise above Carterton with the other balloons, colourfully dotting the sky.

There's a Cadbury Creme Egg balloon near us, perfectly shaped just like the chocolate.

We ascend up and up, reaching 500m, which doesn't sound that high but definitely feels high when I look down.

I can't help but think that there is not anything between me and the ground - no ledges I can grab on to like in a Jackie Chan movie, no conveniently placed mattress factory. But I don't have much to worry about.

One of the other passengers, from the CAA, had been astutely watching the balloon being prepared for take off, and Mark, a very assured man, has a decade of experience in the industry.

Mark used to be a plumber but, after giving ballooning a go, he thought he'd stop "crawling under houses" and be up in the air instead.

He says he flies about three to four times a week in the busy season.

By now, we are moving quite slowly in a north easterly direction, the wind barely a slight breeze.

We have a spectacular 360 degree view of Wairarapa, which we all ooh and aah over.

Eventually, we begin the descent, smoothly landing on a farm.

Having never been ballooning before, I was expecting it to be a bit bumpier but it was a calm, picturesque ride.

It's really a one-of-a-kind experience from the setting up, to the flying, to the packing down of the balloon which you get to be involved in.

Balloons are launching everyday at dawn during the festival, from locations in Masterton, Carterton, Greytown and some late afternoon flights may also take place, weather permitting.

-For more on festival events, visit www.nzballoons.co.nz.