How I survived my first hot air balloon journey

You will need to wake up early for a hot air balloon ride, but it’s worth the early start. Photo: Tourism & Events Queensland

The alarm on my phone screeches with a mad vengeance. Rudely awakened, I reach out to snooze the device that’s the bane of my existence and look at the time – 3.30am.

The sky – from across my hotel room in the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia – still looks pitch black. But in half an hour’s time, I need to be at the lobby to wait for the transport that will take me and a companion on my first ever hot air balloon experience.