Between 8am and the balloon's lift-off shortly after 10am, a 2.5km-long stretch of Kane Rd overlooking the airport was filled with cars, while their occupants crowded the fence line, with cameras, binoculars and hot thermoses in hand.
On Mt Iron, another large crowd of people took in a different view of the spectacle.
Rylan Nichol (7) was not prepared to let school get in the way of seeing the balloon go up.
He was driven to Kane Rd by his mother Ange, who also brought her preschool-aged sons and two foreign exchange students with her from Wanaka.
''I've rung the school and they said I'm not the only parent to have their child out of school today,'' Mrs Nichol said.
''I think it's cool to have [the launch] in Wanaka. The kids will remember it and if this is successful then we get another chance, don't we?''
Mrs Nichol's husband, who was working at the airport, provided regular updates to his excited family standing several kilometres away.
Several members of the Wanaka Camera Club had also positioned their tripods next to the fence line to capture the moment the balloon took flight.
Heather Macleod, of Albert Town, said the theme for the club's photography assignment this month was movement, ''but I don't know if this slow movement will count''.
For Lake Hawea couple Graeme and Deborah Ballantyne, the power of technology made the occasion a family affair.
They watched from the roadside with their daughter and grandchildren, while talking on the phone to their sons in Auckland and London, who were following the launch online.
''They're all enjoying it and wanting to share the moment with us,'' Mrs Ballantyne said.
''I thought it [the balloon] was going to be bigger but it's pretty amazing. And beautiful cloud formations to go with it.''
Her husband agreed the balloon's size once overhead was a ''wee bit underwhelming'', but the speed at which it eventually left the airport tarmac was ''quite intriguing''.
