Up and away over Southbank

People who live in Southbank are used to seeing hot air balloons in the early morning, with up to eight at a time. Each balloon holds about four people who start the day at dawn.

They watch as their balloon gently inflates and they enjoy floating peacefully above the Yarra River as they rise over legendary city landmarks like the MCG, Victoria Barracks and what is now Southbank. The Melbourne event is unique among global balloon experiences as it is over a city.

Hot air ballooning has been taking place in Melbourne since the late 1850s. History was made on February 1, 1858, with the first balloon flight in Australia taking place in the Cremorne Gardens in Richmond.

Observers often wonder whether today’s balloons are likely to have an accident, but the safety controls make such an event seem unlikely. The main danger was from residents who attacked the balloonists, thinking that flying was entirely unnatural.

But safety couldn’t be taken for granted. In May 1879 noted Australian-born aeronaut Henri L’Estrange took off in a new balloon from the Agricultural Society’s Ground in St Kilda Rd, after flights in Sydney.

The balloon was filled by the Metropolitan Gas Company but during the operation of filling the balloon, several holes were made in the calico, which needed to be repaired before the flight.

As the local gas was much stronger than the inferior product used in Sydney, the balloon shot up with surprising velocity and was seen to suddenly open on one side and commence to descend with terrible speed.

The balloon was equipped with a silk parachute, attached to the centre of the balloon. Almost instantly the parachute opened and checked the speed at which the balloon was descending. L’Estrange later stated that he had heard an explosion, as if of a large cannon.

With the wind whistling and screaming through the floor of the car, he looked up and saw that the balloon had burst. He gathered up what he could of the balloon and ended up in a tangle in a fir-tree at the rear of Government House.

Luckily, he survived and even appeared on stage in a theatre that night to relive his experience, although he was ill for some days due to the effects of the gas that he had inhaled. •