Wairarapa Day 2 Evening

After a pleasant morning flight, it became clear as the day wore on that conditions were not becoming conducive to a possible nightglow. Being not quite able to have a snooze as is often the balloonist's habit after the early morning start, I felt the gradual change in temperature as the barometer must have dropped a few notches. A heavy shower at the briefing did not bode well, but crews duly jumped in vehicles and headed for the site - an amphitheatre arrangement just to the side of Queen Elizabeth Park in Masterton. It may have made a very nice venue for a glow, but we never got to find out because of an absolute deluge just before we were due to set up. The place just turned into a lake basically and that was the end of the event. While managing to avoid getting too wet, we headed back to our digs to review the situation. I did some weather forecasting and made a decision to head home early, as the continued southerly flow meant that the possibility of flying the following day was absolutely minimal.

Trolling around looking for stories about the event, I must admit to having a bit of a giggle at this little effort from the Wairarapa Times-Age. You don't expect such grandiose writing from a provincial newspaper - perhaps the scribe is suffering the slings and arrows of having to take his double major Journalism/Literature Degree out to some backwater and struggle with the burden of local news. Escher-esque "box wind" effect? Seriously? Not sure I saw any pilots flying upside down tho'. The marvellous part of this article is the balloonist interviewed lowering the satorial tone no end. Cheers Murray.