Nicki Güles finds a proper hangover cure in Melbourne: altitude.

“It was a terribly early start after drinking more red wine than I should have last night with the mafia-lite crowd at Via Veneto Italian restaurant in Lygon Street.

“At 4.30am, the Global Ballooning crowd picked me up for a trip over Melbourne.

“After helping set up the balloon, eight others and I crowded into the basket for a trip over the skies and across the city to see what turned out to be a fabulous sunrise.

“Kiff, our pilot (I had to force myself not to say “Kiff, my bru” every time he said anything) told me that Melbourne is the only city in the world where ballooners are allowed to fly over the city.

“The reasons for that, he said, were fourfold. One, they’ve been doing it for over 20 years and it will be difficult for the authorities to stop them now. Two, the airport is a fair way out of the city and there’s little competition for airspace. Three, there’s a lot of parkland in the city for emergency landings. And four, they have a ‘lack of paranoia about terrorism’.

“I loved the fourth reason. It would be difficult to imagine someone sneaking a bomb onto the balloon basket only to throw it off onto the suburbs below. To stop the ballooning now would be terribly silly. A great experience, and the $AUS25 champagne breakfast afterwards is great too.

Check it out at www.globalballooning.com.au.

PHOTO: Global Ballooning

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