Ruth Wilson has spent more than half of her life up above the clouds and she is now being honoured for her dedication to hot air ballooning with an OAM.
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The Corlette resident felt overwhelmed when she found out she had been named on the King's honours list but said it couldn't have come at a better time.
"After 49 years of active flying, both hot air balloons, gas balloons and aeroplanes, I've decided to hang up my flying gloves," she said.
While her heart and soul remain in the air, Ms Wilson said her feet are on earth.
"To get this recognition this year, suddenly the grieve I've been feeling about not flying seems to have just dissipated away," she said.
The 81-year-old said ballooning is a real passion of hers and that passion all started when a balloon pilot asked Ms Wilson to go for a hot air balloon ride in New Zealand.
"As soon as I saw it, I couldn't wait to get behind the burner," she said.
"As we lifted off in Auckland, I knew that I had found my destiny and within four months I had a sponsored balloon."
Upon her return to Australia, Ms Wilson did four flights before she was given a piece of paper with a stamp on it.
"I was told then that I was free to fly a balloon. It was what I was born to do," she said.
Ms Wilson particularly loves mountain flying and long distance flying with her gas ballooning in the north hemisphere and said she's been blessed to fly in many countries.
"I've lived a very adventurous life with it so it's been quite a unique journey compared to a lot of other balloonists," she said.
She has done at least three and a half thousand balloon flights and Ms Wilson said it's been a huge agency of her life.
"I love the sense of responsibility that I have up there and the decision making, but also that freedom of the sky as my playground," she said.
Ms Wilson was also a part of the group who established the Australian Ballooning Federation in 1977 and she was elected secretary and in 1979, she won her first national championship.
She has competed in six world championships and said she has competed in all sorts of conditions.
"I've landed half way up the side of a snow covered mountain and have had to try and bring the gear out while walking with snow up to my knees but I just love it," Ms Wilson said.
At the age of 75, Ms Wilson competed in the Gordon Bennett gas balloon race in Switzerland and said the race consisted of 18 hours airborne and no sleep for 33 hours.
"I landed in an Italian vineyard and my darling son and his gorgeous wife and my granddaughter Josie were there chasing me as I landed, it was just wonderful," she said.
Ms Wilson moved to Port Stephens about ten years ago and said she made the move because she wanted to live near water.
"I visited a friend here in Port Stephens and fell in love straight away," she said.
During Covid, Ms Wilson wrote her memoir, Conquering Clouds. To purchase her memoir, visit: https://ruthwilson.net/book/.
Laura Rumbel
Laura Rumbel is a journalist who has always called Maitland home. She has been with the Maitland Mercury since 2022, and is passionate about all areas of local news.
Laura Rumbel is a journalist who has always called Maitland home. She has been with the Maitland Mercury since 2022, and is passionate about all areas of local news.
