theseekingspirit

Four days on the Whitsundays - July3-6 2026 We saw it before we landed - a cloud-covered island floating on a sheet of emerald water, the Whitsundays scattered around it like something out of a dream too green to be real, ringed by water that kept changing shades depending on which cloud happened to be passing  Arrival and First Light Our room opened straight onto the Catseye beach and the hills beyond. Within the hour we were on our first buggy ride, the unofficial vehicle of the island, breathing in the wind and with no real plan except to look around. Late afternoon we ended up at One Tree Hill as the sun began its long slide toward evening, palms swaying overhead in a light breeze, and there, of all things, a solitary cork tree standing sentinel over the view. The evening sun laid down a long path of light across the water, and as it dipped lower the guitar player broke into a rendition of “Hallelujah” - the kind of moment that makes you stop mid-sentence and just watch. Later ...

 We woke up at 3AM to reach Colorado Springs for the hot air balloon ride that was scheduled at 5:30 AM. In summer we have early sun rise in Colorado, and the lift off was planned at 5:30 AM with the pilot - Gary “Burner” Born. Gary owns the company called High-but-Dry Balloon Company. He came up with this interesting name after quitting drinking and taking up balloon flying. He calls it "moving from one addiction to another". We watched with anticipation as Gary’s crew unloaded the balloon from the chase vehicle, and inflated it using propane tanks. The sun was slowly starting its ascent bathing Pikes Peak in red. After many photos were taken, and recorded for posterity, we finally had lift off. We hardly noticed the ascent, and as we were busy clicking away with our cellphones we were already up in the air 500 feet above ground and moving at a gentle speed of 5 miles/hr. The city of Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak lay before us in the glorious cloudless morning with t...