Saturday, 9 April 2016

Hamilton Balloon Festival

With Thomas in the front pack, we headed by bus to the Waikato University grounds to see the balloon festival. Although there were not as many balloons as the Sussex festival back home, we thought Thomas might enjoy the night glow if he managed to wake up. When we arrived it turned out that this was not nearly about the balloons as it was a fair, with rides, music, and the most unbelievably long lines for the food and coffee vendors.


Despite the unbelievable crowd and lines, we got a warm drink and waited for the balloons to start inflating. There were a lot of beautiful coloured balloons that started up as the sun was setting and it looked like it would be a great show.




As it got darker and we made it through the long lines for the bathroom, the carriage and elephant balloon were nearing full inflation up front and centre. We also noticed the heavy clouds rolling in.





Thomas did indeed wake for the show but with such huge crowds and so much noise he unfortunately could not concentrate on anything for long and we are not sure he even saw the balloons. As with most things in his life, we try to expose him to as many experiences as possible and he will get from it what he can, but there will be plenty of other opportunities later to experience them again!


And just as the dinosaur egg balloon started to near complete inflation it was clear the other balloons were deflating and the rain began. Light at first, it built up to solid sheets of light rain coming down on the festival. We found a quiet place to give our little one a feed before we headed back to catch a but into town.



Finally back at the hotel, we unpacked our warm bundle of joy and got ready for bed.


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