November 22nd / 23rd / 24th

Sun 22nd
Grey skies and it looked like rain, but the competition is still on. We had to find our own launch site and fly into the target. Derek dropped the beanbag approx 10 mts from first target.
Onto the second target, and he's keeping up with the rest of the pack.
Right over the target, he got within 15 mts. Chase vehicles have to stay 100 mts away from targets otherwise the pilot will be have a penalty deducted from his score.
We landed on the road, and bystanders were happy to help pack the balloon away. Sitting on the bag helps get the air out, and gives everyone a chance to catch their breath.
Mon 23rd
Beautiful morning, clear sky and warmer. Last night , we had another night glow. The forcast was for rain at 7.30, but it came early and all the balloons got rained on. Everyone was wet and cold by the end of the evening, but at least the spectators got to see the balloons illuminated for about 15 mins. All the balloonist were glad to have today to fly, to dry out their balloons. We couldn't have wished for a nicer day. There were 2 tasks today, and Derek was 1 meter away from the first, and 23 meters from the second. Not a bad days work. This is the last morning of the competition, so he was pleased that he done well.
In the afternoon, we took up last years homestay children , and Utah our driver.
Ready to take off from the parking lot. Our friend Alex, who we met at a balloon festival in Cheju, South Korea, and who has since been following Dereks progress in Competitions, helped us launch.
While we were chasing drove past this beautiful Temple.
The Watanabe Family help pack the balloon away.
Beautiful Mayu peeking through the basket. She was too scared to fly in the basket, and cried when she saw her brother and sister flying away. Once everyone was back on the ground, she was smiling again.
In the evening we went to the Awards Ceremony. Derek came in 26th, so as this was the best ever placing, he was very happy. The winner was Mizukami, from Japan, second was Nick Donner, from USA, and third was David Bareford, from UK. The winner takes home $16,ooo, not bad for a few days work!
Our host family joined us for the Ceremony, again lots to eat and drink. Said good-bye to everyone, hard to believe it's been a year since we last saw everyone. Met some great people, who were observers for us, and got to know some officials better, so we had a great time.
This is our Home Stay House, just 5 minutes away from the mornings briefings. Those extra minutes count at 5am!
Tues 24th
Lovely lay-in, and leisurely breakfast. Managed to pack all our clothes back into the backpacks. Re-fueled the propane tanks, ready to take them back to Tochigi. One of our friends is going back to Saga, so we gave him a bag of clothes and balloon equipment, to take back to our Saga Homestay, ready for next year. Hopefully, we won't be needing any warm clothes on the rest of our trip. Host family took us to a lovely Onsen ( Japanese Hot Springs ) where we soaked for an hour and got all the grime and dirt out of every crevice! Relaxed and chatted with them for a while, before we hit the road for Tochigi. Returned the balloon to Mr Sotome, and will stay the night at his home, before we head to Tokyo tomorrow morning to catch a flight to Fukuoka. Tomorrow will be our last night in Japan, can't believe how quickly it all went. Had a Great time, and have to thank all our homestay families for taking such good care of us. We are very grateful for welcoming us into their homes and lifes.