JANUARY - MARCH 2005

Breeze: Every year, towards the end of summer, those dreadful hot-air balloon thingummys start to invade our airspace - and without a clearance, I might add. Personally, I would have to say that they don't annoy me all that much. Kellie, on the other hand, really hates those things. I mean, she really hates them. Whenever she sees them, or hears them firing their burners in the still morning air, she races into the middle of the back lawn, jumps up and down, and barks at them until they disappear from view. In that respect, she is very much like great-grandmother Bessie, who held those contraptions in similar disdain.

Kellie: To make matters worse - and you won't believe this - the Pack Leader and Alpha Female actually went for a ride in one of those stupid things. In fact, the one they rode in was the exact same one you see me barking at above. The Pack Leader said that he was hoping to drift over No 86, so that he could look down and see and hear me barking. Unfortunately, however, the drift was not in my general direction that day, so the Pack Leader was denied that particular pleasure.

Breeze: So here's the basket of the balloon in question in mid air. Our Pack Leader and Alpha Female are on the extreme left - without parachutes, I might add.	Kellie: And here's a picture the Pack Leader took of the houses of parliament, with our domicile way in the distance.

Kellie: Nope. The air is simply not our element. And I guess there's no need to tell you which particular element is our element. Goes without saying, really. I mean, floating around in the air doesn't really compare with floating around in cool water on a hot day. It's just not the same thing.

Breeze: And how on earth can you fetch a stick from a hot-air balloon? Kellie: My point exactly, Mama. My point exactly.

Kellie & Breeze: And after our swim we usually take a long drying-off walk up to Government House and back. This is probably our favourite walk in all of Canberra, not least because we occasionally meet people who make favourable comments about us and want to give us pats. Of course, being very tolerant by nature, we do absolutely nothing to discourage that sort of behaviour.