By DAN RYAN
In the mid-1980s, Canowindra was little more than a quiet, rural town nestled in the heart of Central West, but for a few magical mornings and well into the night, the small town looked upwards for an unforgettable sight.
Ballooning was a popular pastime in the region, with the elevation combining with gentle winds and spectacular views to make for a highly desirable place for brave ballooners to take flight.
Media from across the country flocked to the J and B Invitational Balloon Challenge in 1982, where these archival images were taken. The liquor giant flew lauded war correspondent and columnist David McNicoll (pictured) to cover the event, where he wrote of being woken ‘depressingly early’ to watch the flights from 4:30am.
“One of the infuriating features of travel by air is the amount of time on the tarmac. It’s much the same with ballooning, you spend a hell of a lot of time on the ground, watching the preparations, the blowers inflating the bags, and the increasing bands of groupies ogling their heroes until, finally, you soar silently up, up and away as the ancient ditty has it,” he wrote for The Bulletin in 1982.
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“The balloons have been kind to Canowindra. It is not a bustling town, like nearby Cowra or Orange. In fact, it is a town with too many closed shops and vacant premises. But when the balloonies adopted Canowindra they gave the town a much-needed hypodermic in the posterior.”
Arguably, Canowindra’s main street is more vibrant today, with a new influx of successful small businesses keeping the historic Gaskill Street a must-visit on a trip, and with a formally established Canowindra International Ballooning Challenge rapidly approaching its 20th year.
Images courtesy of National Archives.
