Up, up and away to raise $1m

IF YOU thought Jules Verne’s Five weeks in a Balloon was impressive, you’ll be blown away by Andrew Parker’s epic balloon journey.

WORLD TOUR: New Zealand-born hot air balloon pilot Andrew Parker during his visit to South Grafton Primary School.

IF YOU thought Jules Verne's Five weeks in a Balloon was impressive, you'll be blown away by Andrew Parker's epic balloon journey.

The New Zealand-born hot air balloon pilot is attempting a four-year overland journey across more than 100 countries, in which he aims to raise awareness and $1 million for UNICEF projects.

His multi-coloured balloon was launched from New Zealand in December last year after years of planning to make the Flying High for Kids World Balloon project a reality.

Now onto his second country, the passionate 30-year-old floated into Grafton this week to give a demonstration to South Grafton Primary School students, who have been following his progress and researching UNICEF projects all year.

Mr Parker plans to visit a number of schools world-wide, and said it was great to bring some excitement to children who may not have seen a hot air balloon before.

"I'm especially looking forward to getting to central Asia, I think a lot of the schools I visit will have never seen a hot air balloon," he said.

"It's about creating a profile for the project as well... UNICEF helps countries from grassroots right up to a government level."

Having left the Clarence Valley on Tuesday, Mr Parker heads to the ACT for the Canberra Balloon Spectacular next week.

He will then head for Malaysia and hopes to be in Turkey by the end of the year.

Originally published as Up, up and away to raise $1m