Melbourne Hot Air Balloon Flight over the City at Sunrise

Yarra Valley Morning Hot Air Balloon Flight with Transfer

Cold air slides off the ridges into the Yarra Valley overnight and settles on the floor until the sun burns it away, which is why the balloon goes up at first light and why you often start the flight climbing out of mist. The vine rows come back in strips as it thins. Victoria's wine country sits about an hour east of Melbourne, and from a basket it reads as farmland with vineyards set into it, cut by the river and closed in by wooded hills. A transfer is part of the booking, which removes the main practical obstacle to a dawn flight: getting yourself to a launch field in the dark, in a region where the field changes with the wind. Once everyone is on site the pilot puts passengers to work. Helping rig the balloon means hauling the envelope out flat and holding the mouth open while the fans fill it. Then the burners go in and the whole thing stands up over your head. The flight runs about an hour above the wine country, quiet apart from the burner firing every so often and slow enough that you can watch the same paddock for minutes at a time. Breakfast afterwards is optional rather than included. Whether you want it depends on how you feel about a full meal at an hour you would normally still be asleep.