Hot Air Balloon Circumnavigation Record Broken in Western Australia
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (382658)
Rockingham, Australia
July 23, 2016 10:14am CST
There has been high excitement in the Western Australian wheatbelt this afternoon when 64-year-old Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov landed his hot air balloon near the small town of Bonnie Rock.
The traveller, yacht captain and Eastern Orthodox priest has broken the hot air balloon record for the fastest circumnavigation of Earth. Konyukhov took just over 11 days, breaking the previous record set by American adventurer Steve Fossett. Fossett's record of 13 ½ days had been unbroken for 14 years.
Konyukhov flew over the launch site which in itself is a remarkable achievement. He landed some kilometres further on with an hour of daylight to spare. His wife, son, and a number of followers were soon at the site to congratulate Konyukhov. What a remarkable achievement!
Photo is mine, of cockatoos that might be seen in the area where the balloon landed.
15 people like this
16 responses
@JudyEv (382658)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Jul 16
@just4him We've had camels for many years as they helped open up the dry, arid outback. But there are now a lot of feral camels as well which compete with native and domestic animals for food and water. At one point we were exporting camels to Arabian countries as ours were better quality. Like sending coals to Newcastle.
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
23 Jul 16
the logistics of bathroom use and such make me wonder.... heh
1 person likes this
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
25 Jul 16
@JudyEv ewww brown and yellow rain
1 person likes this
@puddleglum (1380)
• United States
23 Jul 16
Great picture! That's an incredible feat. Konyukhov sounds like an intriguing personality.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (209193)
• United States
23 Jul 16
Wow, Amazing a tree of cockatoos, we would never have that here of course. Did you see the balloon land?
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382658)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Jul 16
No, it was a long way from us but some people must have set off to follow him once they knew roughly where he'd end up.
@JudyEv (382658)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Jul 16
It was such a huge balloon and he had to land it on his own for record purposes. There was footage of it bouncing along the ground.
@JudyEv (382658)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Jul 16
I think I've put it up before - but I didn't have a photo of a balloon. :)
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
24 Jul 16
mr. fossett 'twas born not far from my ol' stompin' grounds. part'f me's a tad sad his records's been broken, but i'm so glad that mr. konyukhov made't safely.
1 person likes this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
24 Jul 16
wow what a trip ... and achievement too.... I bet he's seen some lovely sights... 
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (24100)
• United Kingdom
23 Jul 16
Well done that man. I love the photo there are so many of them. We have swarms of Parakeets which are not native to Briton flying around in some places and they have colonised. I would love to see the parakeets here too!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382658)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Jul 16
Unfortunately they also do a lot of damage and make a lot of mess around the wheat bins and so on.
@acelawrites (19272)
• Philippines
24 Jul 16
He had done something wonderful , circumnavigating the world through hot air balloon. Looks like all the cockatoos are watching him.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382658)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Jul 16
He went a very long way in a very short time, didn't he?
@williamjisir66 (594)
• Hangzhou, China
24 Jul 16
It is great of his balloon to have got this remarkable achievement. Also this tree full of those lovely birds is look very beautiful because of them. The picture is well taken. Thanks for sharing, Judy.
