What is the best thing about taking to the skies ?

Landing of course ! 

So that accounts for most of us out there. There is a small percentage who would still be up there...

What do you give the woman or man who has everything ?

A lot of us these days have most things, though we know many, many others who don't. A very first world problem for sure, but we are only here once, so I guess we are all looking for what may give us maximum pleasure and enjoyment in our short time on this planet. 

I got a bunch of barnacles for Xmas and how much pleasure or enjoyment I get out of those I am still weighing up. A more exciting Birthday present came from a dear friend who consulted hubby and came up with a Helicopter Ride over Brisbane. I took that as a hint that he would like to do this too, so it was a belated Birthday one for me and an advance Birthday one for him, when we took to the skies on a gorgeous autumn day. 

The helicopter could have been a toy. Raven is tiny, glassy, and my favourite colour, a dark blue. Does that count for attraction to the attraction and had it been yellow would it have been a no no ? We clambered in and put our safety belts on, " just like in a car" the pilot said, though I thought the distance you travel, fall, crash, may be vastly different. The engine was turned on and there was an undoubted tractor noise about it, chug chug chug, the rotary blades started up and behind us we could feel the engine warming up. Lets hope it doesn't get cold for it up there. We put on our head phones and talked into our mikes. A little nervously, but also hopefully. And then suddenly we were literally lifting straight off the launch pad and floating at an angle down the tarmac. An odd sensation and it almost felt like what fairies do in stories swooping in with their wands to spread their magic.Gradually we lifted to the 1000 ft that we would be cruising at and headed straight for the CBD. We looked down, where else, to see a well organised city, gridded and neat with homes and pools, roads and parks and the river snaking in and out. 

Then in we flew to the skyscrapers around the CBD and we literally circled them which was quite a thrill and admired the city as never before. Over to the western suburbs where C spotted the Medical School and our home not much further away, hovering over the Gabba Stadium and seeing how it dominated that landscape, before doing a south eastern turn to head back to the airfield. Methi, our trusted pilot brought the helicopter in to land exactly where we had taken off, a gentle setting down, unlike anything you experience on a plane, where you have the sensation of being forced back in your seat and brakes making unmistaken contact with the earth. Almost imperceptibly as if on a cushion, we were on the ground  and we waited for the rotary blades to come to a stop talking about the cityscapes and what we had enjoyed.  

Suddenly I was ravenous and wanted nothing more than a big brunch. All that nervous energy churning round inside not unlike those blades. Feeling alive and hungry.  A great Birthday pressie.