Gold Coast balloon rides: Can I go on a hinterland flight?

Yes. Book a Gold Coast hot air balloon tour with Hot Air to fly over the Gold Coast hinterland, spot kangaroos in the pastures, and see racehorse-breeding pens from above.

On a Gold Coast hot air balloon tour, you get to see a very different side to the Gold Coast. Below is not the Gold Coast that most imagine. In many minds, it’s a place of high rise towers, nightclub crawls and slightly down-at-heel nuance-free fun in the sun. Flying over the Gold Coast hinterland, therefore, is largely about getting rid of ingrained prejudices.

Best day trips from the Gold Coast – 7 ways to improve your stay

The Gold Coast is a destination in its own right, but there are several excellent day trips you can do while using it as a base.

Deluxe Tamborine Mountain winery tour – with gourmet lunch.
Full day Springbrook National Park tour – with waterfalls and bush tucker tasting.
Snorkelling with turtles at Cook Island.
Evening glowworm-viewing experience – with guided stargazing.
Lady Elliot Island day trip – with glass bottom boat & guided Great Barrier Reef snorkelling tour.
Hopping between microbreweries – with lunch included.
Northern Rivers fruit & distillery tour – with Tropical Fruit World and Husk Distillers.

Start time for Gold Coast ballooning flights

Hot Air runs Gold Coast ballooning flights, with pick-ups from Gold Coast hotels starting as early as 5am. Weather conditions are better for ballooning in the morning, hence the early start.

Hot air ballooning over the Gold Coast hinterland in Queensland. Photo courtesy of Hot Air.

The scene from inside the hot air balloon basket is unabashedly low energy. The pastures are just beginning to wake up, with cows taking an early morning lumber and the odd rogue kangaroo making a break between the trees.

Most notable are the number of round pens used for training racehorses. Here, just inland from Australia’s most popular domestic holiday strip, is some serious money. The horses bred and raised here will eventually go off and win thousands of dollars on racetracks around the country.

Gold Coast hot air balloon tours: Breakfast and wine tasting in Canungra

The balloon bounces to a halt in a field outside the Queensland town of Beaudesert. After a group effort in putting the envelope away, everyone is transferred to the O’Reilly’s Vineyard, just outside Canungra in the Scenic Rim region. This comes as another surprise – many passengers won’t be aware that there are any wineries this far north. The Gold Coast has always struck as a beer and shots kind of place, but venture into the hinterland and that’s not the case. That’s especially true when you head further inland to the rainforest-shrouded Springbrook National Park.

The Gold Coast balloon rides with Hot Air require a horribly early start, but they’re one of the best things to do on the Gold Coast as they show a totally different side to the region. The trip, including hotel pick-ups and a full breakfast at the O’Reilly Vineyard after the flight, costs from $280.

If this gives you a taste for early starts and scenic flights, you can also take a hot air balloon flight over Canberra or a Hunter Valley ballooning tour. There are also balloon tours in the Barossa Valley, South Australia.