This week we got to enjoy some of the 5-day "
Balloons over Waikato" annual festival in Hamilton! Hot air balloon enthusiasts and owners alike joined together in a fun international celebration of light, flying, and glowing things. I like all these things, and so naturally, enjoyed the whole affair. I also have determined that I want to get a ride on a hot air balloon before I die (but not right after moving to another country and it costing $200 bucks).
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| The first morning of the festival they launched balloons from multiple parks around Hamilton right at sunrise. Brian took this shot from our front yard. |
The NZ Air Force gave an air show, which we enjoyed (also from our front yard). A lot of the events around here take place on or near the University grounds, which we live across the street from, so we lucked out since this was a highly attended event! Brian got a few pictures of this as well:
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| Whenever they released the smoke trails I hummed the "wicked witch" theme song from the Wizard of Oz. |
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| At the end of this stunt the smoke formed a heart. awwwww. |
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| It looks like fun to be a pilot. As long as you're not barfing..... |
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| A fun twisty trick. |
This weekend was the finale event called "The Nightglow", and it's one of the events Hamilton is best known for. There is a big carnival with games, rides and delicious junk food. We walked the 5 minutes from our house over to the university grounds to join in. I tried some of the famous cinnamon donuts (very tiny and tasty). Then we stood with the giant mob of people on the sports field complex and watched the light show, accompanied by music. There was a series of the mechanisms they normally use to heat hot air balloons and get them off the ground that turned on and off sending 6 foot jets of flame into the air!! Then there were the balloons themselves, which glowed brilliantly when the flames under them were turned on:
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| My favorite balloon was of course "Claw'd the Crab", featured on the right- but there were many beautiful balloons. |
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| Brian getting his camera ready for some shots. We had fun despite his dislike of big crowds! |
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| A very fun and laid-back event. It reminded me that despite a lot of the ugly, sad and broken stuff in the world, things like this festival can celebrate human creativity and playfulness. |
The evening ended in fireworks!
So now, on my walk to work tomorrow, I'm expecting to see some firework debris. Here's a shot of a favorite part of my walk commute (after I get out of our neighborhood and across the street):
Sometimes if our bread goes moldy (most bread here doesn't have preservatives, so you have to eat it quickly), we take it to this lake and feed the ducks (which is a bad habit I love). You can probably see the green algae bloom already occurring on the nutrient-rich water....
I will end this post with a picture of some bread that will certainly not have the chance to go moldy...Brian made this batch yesterday afternoon and boy is it good! So glad I have a clever husband that likes baking bread. He won't have as much time to be a "house-husband" soon though, as he's landed two short-term contracts doing insect work, yay! It's been a hard part of the job sector to break into (as everything here is about networking and we knew no one, and entomology is not a big field). But Brian has persevered and I'm so proud and glad he will have a chance to work in something he is so passionate about.
