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Damaging wind hits south-east Australia amid another polar blast

Damaging winds are set to blow across parts of south-east Australia again this weekend as a second polar blast moves over the country.

South Australia will see wind gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour in southern parts of the state.

The damaging wind is then set to move through Victoria tomorrow before hitting New South Wales on Monday.

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The wind gust speed and direction on Sunday June 5.

"Another mass of frigid air has its sights on Australia and some areas could see even lower temperatures, and more damaging winds, over the coming week," Weatherzone said.

"The strongest winds from this system will occur between Saturday night and Monday, with damaging gusts possible in parts of SA, TAS, VIC, the ACT, NSW and southern QLD.

"Wind should ease on Tuesday into Wednesday, although another frontal system could cause winds to restrengthen from Thursday and possibly linger into the weekend."

The wind gust speed and direction on Monday June 6.

Residents in three states are experiencing the early bite of winter with minimum temperatures between eight and 11 degrees forecast this weekend.

"Temperatures will start to drop with the passage of the first front this weekend, before colder air continues to spread across southern, central and eastern Australia throughout most of next week," Weatherzone said.

It is the second cold air mass to travel up from Antarctica to Australia in a week.

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Snow covers the ground near Oberon where the temperature is 0 degrees. Oberon, NSW. 1st June, 2022. Photo: Kate Geraghty

Over the next 10 days, most of Australia will experience cooler-than-average temperatures for this time of year.

Based on Weatherzone's forecasts, Sydney will stay below 19 degrees for the first fortnight of winter which hasn't occurred in more than 20 years.

Skiers and snowboarders are rejoicing as the particularly icy temperatures means snow resorts have opened early this weekend.

Up to 20 centimetres of snow is forecast on NSW snow fields.

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Snow season kicks off early at Perisher.

At Mount Buller in Victoria, Rhylla Morgan said there is already 45 centimetres of snow in the alpine area.

"Sometimes at this time of year we don't have any snow on the ground and those storms have just been blitzing the mountains and there's more coming this weekend," Morgan said.

"This kind of snowfall this early is pretty extraordinary."

Weatherzone warned severe weather warnings are likely to be issued this weekend in multiple states.

Australia's only hot air balloon factory sends mammoth vessels globally

Hot air balloons are a lavish way to see the scenery around Australia and the rest of the word.

And chances are, if you've flown in one either here or overseas, it was made at Australia's only hot air balloon factory.

The family firm is nestled in a far from luxurious industrial unit in Sydney's north, from where it makes and ships balloons as far afield as Africa, where they are used for safaris.

Kavanagh Balloons

Phil Kavanagh, 75, set the Kavanagh Balloons up in 1979 after getting involved with the creations via Sydney University Balloon Club.

And while has been planning to retire for a while and hand the company over to son Sean, he's still at the helm.

And he has kept count of how many balloons he and his team has crafted over the decades – just over 600.

They've recently made one in Aussie department store David Jones' distinctive houndstooth design, which made a splash on social media.

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Then there's the quirky Hendrick's Gin balloon and another dubbed 'a love letter to Melbourne' adorned with hundreds of inspiring messages post pandemic.

They've also been involved with the Easter Show, providing the high-flying balloon.

But he's casual about his high-flying firm.

Kavanagh Balloons is Australia's only hot air balloon factory.

"It's like any other job in the end," he said.

"People do really interesting things that just aren't very public- ballooning is a really visual thing."

Sean added that making the mammoth beasts "is not as romantic as it sounds".

"The reality is, its manufacturing in Australia which is hard at the best of times, he said.

"The flip side is when we actually finish a product and say 'wow, look at that'."

COVID-19 hit the firm in a big way.

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While they were still working, hold-ups in the supply chain have caused issues.

For example, fabric to make the mammoth canopies, as much about 2000 square metres for one canopy or the size of eight tennis courts, usually comes from South Africa.

But for now they have to buy the cloth, which is sewn together on a machine from Europe.

Of course the canopy is paired with a basket, hand crafted by staff member James Williams.

Kavanagh Balloons is Australia's only hot air balloon factory.

And the burner is made by an Aussie firm in Malaysia.

The company recently made one for the largest balloon in Australia, which can hold 24 people.

The NSW Hunter Valley and Cairns are some spots to climb aboard those.

It takes eight weeks to make a typical balloon.

And when he's not making balloons, Sean is flying them.

He's heading to the Ballooning World Championships in Slovenia in a few months.

He has previously come 30th in the contest, and is a former Australian world champion.

Hot air balloons over Lake Burley Griffin during the Canberra Balloon Spectacular festival in Canberra.

Competitive ballooning involves various challenges involving navigating to a series of targets.

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Kavanagh Balloons

Results can come down to just centimeters.

"It's complicated, it's a lot of navigation work, a lot of understanding the micrometeorology of the area," Kavanagh said.

A hot air balloon in Kenya

"Most women have got a better touch for it than guys – it's a multi-tasking sport, it's very subtle, it's easy to over do it."

And once Sean does finally take over, he has two little balloon makers waiting in the wings.

His children, aged nine and seven, already like to visit the factory, in Mount Kuring-Gai.

"They're always here, any chance they get in here climbing in and out of baskets," he said.

"Whether or not they'll come into it, I've no idea."