A balloon is tethered at Habitat as a tourist attraction, while Skippy and the Hammonds have guests- Lou's friend Tamiko and a Japanese boy who is staying with Tamiko's family, sent to Australia to improve his English and find out how ordinary employees of the company live. When his father comes to take him back to Japan, he cuts himself adrift in the balloon, declaring that he wants to stay in Australia. Only timely intervention by Skippy and a concerted effort by everyone else gets him safely back to earth and reunited with his father.