Hundreds gather as giant Skywhales soar above Temora

TWO seven-storey-tall Skywhales rose over Temora on Saturday morning, leaving hundreds spellbound as the monumental hot air balloon artworks took to the sky.

Locals and visitors rugged up in the cold before dawn to watch the famous Skywhale family come to life under the first light of day at Temora Recreation Ground.

Each weighing around half a tonne and made up of more than 3,500 square metres of fabric, crews spent just over an hour rolling out and inflating the balloons before they rose into the sky at 7am.

Photo: © The Junee Bulletin

Photo: © The Junee Bulletin

As the burners roared to life and the giant figures began to rise, mothers and fathers stood alongside grandparents, children and babies in prams, many clutching coffees and bacon-and-egg rolls while gathering around a fire to keep warm against the crisp autumn morning.

Picture-perfect conditions and almost no wind allowed the pair to drift peacefully over the shire.

Photo: © The Junee Bulletin

Photo: © The Junee Bulletin

The monumental balloon family — known as Skywhale and Skywhalepapa — forms part of Skywhales Across Australia, a National Gallery Touring Event supported by the Australian Government through Visions of Australia and the National Collecting Institutions Touring Outreach Program.

Created by internationally acclaimed Australian artist Patricia Piccinini, the giant whale-like figures are designed to explore themes of nature, family, evolution, care and wonder.

The original Skywhale was commissioned as part of Canberra’s centenary celebrations and first flew in Australia in 2013.

Photo: © The Junee Bulletin

Photo: © The Junee Bulletin

Constructed by Cameron Balloons in Bristol, United Kingdom, the giant balloon has since travelled around the world before being donated to the National Gallery of Australia in 2019.

Standing approximately 23 metres high and 34 metres long, the balloon is roughly twice the size of a standard hot air balloon and took a team of six workers seven months to build.

Its bizarre yet captivating design features ten prominent udder-like appendages, representing what Piccinini describes as a hybrid-mammal maternal figure and exploring themes of nurturing, motherhood and humanity’s relationship with nature.

Photo: © The Junee Bulletin

Joining it was Skywhalepapa, unveiled in 2021 after being created in 2019–20.

The companion artwork depicts a male Skywhale carrying its young, expanding the Skywhale story into a broader narrative centred on parenting, care and connection.

“It is a simple story, but a beautiful and uplifting one,” Piccinini said.

“With a single skywhale figure we have a character, but with the two we have a relationship and a narrative.”

Each balloon is capable of carrying a pilot and two passengers to altitudes of up to 3,000 feet.

Saturday’s launch in Temora forms part of the Skywhales’ continuing national tour, which has taken the giant airborne artworks across regional Australia, including appearances in Goulburn, the Sunshine Coast, Albany, Northam and Townsville.