REIGNING Australian ballooning champion Eddie Saunders was just six years old when he decided his future career, during a fateful visit to Mildura.

His father Kiff Saunders took the family up to witness the 2004 World Hot Air Balloon Championships.

Gazing at the Sunraysia skyline, Eddie was instantly hooked.

"That was really my first experience of a major ballooning event in my life," he said.

...