{"id":410,"date":"2015-06-11T05:33:09","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T05:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/great-heights-on-the-gold-coast\/"},"modified":"2022-04-21T01:02:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T01:02:14","slug":"great-heights-on-the-gold-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/great-heights-on-the-gold-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Heights on the Gold Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s no big secret \u2013 I\u2019m terrified of heights. I hate the feeling of looking over the edge of any lookout, cliffside, tower or rooftop. I\u2019m always the guy that\u2019s quite happy keeping a couple of metres away from the side, and rather content hugging the wall while others marvel giddily at how incredibly high up they are.<\/p>\n

So for that reason alone, I was a little anxious about the idea of travelling to Queensland\u2019s\u00a0Gold Coast<\/a>\u00a0to see the southeast of the Sunshine State from a higher perspective. Don\u2019t get me wrong \u2013 I love Queensland. I\u2019m a seeker of the sunshine, and a huge fan of beautiful beaches, but activities that involve me climbing above the ground, where my feet aren\u2019t planted on a firm earth surface freak me out, quite significantly. And so, with anxious trepidation and some steady breathing, I board my plane, \u201cup\u201d to the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n

Hot Air Ballooning<\/h2>\n

My foray into my day of heights involved a rather early start, leaving our hotel at 5:30am to travel out to the Gold Coast hinterland to see the sun rise from a hot air balloon. My knowledge of hot air balloons is pretty limited \u2013 I had no idea how high they went up, how fast they move, and what the sensation of floating through the air was like, so there was a certain degree of curiosity there, and I was somewhat eager to let my sense of adventure overtake, albeit for a short time, my fear of heights.<\/p>\n

We arrive at a large open field, and the crew at\u00a0Balloon Aloft Gold Coast<\/a>\u00a0unpack their balloon and set themselves up for our take off. It\u2019s quite a sight against the darkness of dawn \u2013 an open, grassy field with a large basket and colourful balloon lit up by the hot flames. A group of ten climbs into the basket and we\u2019re soon lifting up slowly into the air.<\/p>\n

This is potentially the scariest part of the actual experience, lifting up and leaving the ground beneath you. But, once I accept the fact that there\u2019s no going back (for a while, at least!), I\u2019m taken in by the totally foreign sensation of floating gently through the air. You see, what\u2019s so unusual is the movement of the actual hot air balloon. Being carried by the wind results in very minimal movement of the actual basket \u2013 you hardly feel like you\u2019re moving at all. If it wasn\u2019t for the fact that I was literally watching clouds pass by, I wouldn\u2019t believe that we were actually moving at such a pace.<\/p>\n

Speaking of clouds, physically climbing 6,500ft and floating straight through the middle of clouds is an incredible experience. Surrounded by fluffy balls of cotton, seeing them move all around you is fascinating enough \u2013 but then add in the spectacular view of the morning sun rising through them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s no big secret \u2013 I\u2019m terrified of heights. I hate the feeling of looking over the edge of any lookout, cliffside, tower or rooftop. I\u2019m always the guy that\u2019s quite happy keeping a couple of metres away from the side, and rather content hugging the wall while others marvel giddily at how incredibly high… Continue reading Great Heights on the Gold Coast<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,2,4,6],"tags":[25,59,227,208,326,10],"authors":[],"class_list":["post-410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure","category-destination","category-experiences","category-explore","category-oceania","tag-australia","tag-family","tag-gold-coast","tag-queensland","tag-theme-parks","tag-tips","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGreat Heights on the Gold Coast | Expedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.expedia.co.nz\/stories\/great-heights-on-the-gold-coast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Great Heights on the Gold Coast | Expedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s no big secret \u2013 I\u2019m terrified of heights. 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