The Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland is a beautiful location that you should add to your itinerary if you’re ever visiting Cairns, and the best way to see it is from above in a hot air balloon! Raging Thunder will pick you up from your hotel at a god awful time in the morning, bus you up to your balloon and take you for the most beautiful, peaceful, amazing ride of your life!

Hot air ballooning is so peaceful. Once you’re up in the air floating along, it’s so quiet. You can easily imagine the life of a bird, silently gliding along, enjoying the view.

One thing I never considered when I went up, is how we would come down. There is no control in an air balloon except up or down, so you are at the mercy of the wind. And once you decide it’s time to come down, there’s no brakes. You have to sit down and wait for the bump and the slow tip over of the basket. It was hilarious! We couldn’t stop laughing.

If you’ve never been in a hot air balloon I recommend you give it a go! It’s an amazing way to see the countryside. It will be an everlasting memory. So when you start writing your to-do list for Cairns, don’t forget the Atherton Tablelands.