The final day of the Balloon Spectacular is Sunday and among the more spectacular sights of this beautiful festival has been balloons skimming the surface of Lake Burley Griffin, close to kayakers and stand-up paddleboarders.
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One of the expert exponents of the balloon-skimming is Justin Galbraith who pilots the Capital Chemist balloon, owned by his sister, Amanda Galbraith, also a partner in the Capital Chemist group.
The Galbraith family have been ballooning for almost 40 years, led by father Danny.
"[Dad] learnt to fly forever ago, then I learnt as a teenager, and Justin as an adult. Add my mum, husband and sister-in-law, plus three grandkids, and it's a great way to enjoy Canberra together," Amanda said.
The ballon-skimming is not dangerous but takes great skill.
"It used to be called splash and bash but it's more alight and float," Justin said.
"It is tough. It's a real finesse thing. If you get it wrong, you're wet up to your crutch. It's my party trick - to get on the water very, very nicely and stay there."
Justin started doing it five years ago after an encounter on the lake with kayaker and photographer Paul Jurak.
"We flew down and met Paul and told him to hang on to the basket and we towed him along the lake. That was all highly amusing," Justin said.
Justin, who was a member of the Ice Dragons outrigger canoe club, would also alert that community and the stand-up boarders when all the elements were in line for another dip and tell them to turn up to enjoy the spectacle.
"That was a couple of years ago and it's just got bigger and bigger," he said.
The right conditions included a weather inversion where cold air was draining down the lake.
Graham Tupper from Canberra Urban Adventures regularly gets to see the hot-air balloons skimming the lake when he takes people out kayaking. He took the photograph of the hummingbird balloon looking to have a drink from the lake this week.
Kerbi the frog balloon has also made himself at home close to the lake during this year's spectacular. He even gave some stand-up boarders a tow during the week.
It's just another example of Canberra's soul.
Hurry to see them before the spectacular is over.
Each day, from 6:15am, pilots will begin inflating their balloons on the lawns of Old Parliament House.
