Hot air balloons filled the skies across WA's Avon Valley this week for the first time in three decades, as a married couple finished first and second at the Australian National Ballooning Championships.

More than 8,000 spectators gathered for the five-day event to watch competitors drop a weighted string onto large crosses dotted along the course.

Australian pilots secured the top three spots in the 30-strong field, ahead of competitors from China, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom.

Matthew Scaife from the Hunter Valley in New South Wales took out first place as national champion, while his wife Nicola, who is the current Women's World Hot Air Ballooning Champion, took second place.

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Peter Wright from Melbourne finished third.

The trio qualified to take part in the World Hot Air Ballooning Championships being held in Japan in 2016.

Mr Scaife said the flying conditions for the week were ideal.

"The gradient winds were pretty slick during the week and they made great conditions for pilots," he said.

"You had to be pretty quick on your feet. We had some great fun with winds getting up to 50 kilometres an hour.

"It's always a difficult competition. Even if there's some people who don't fly as often, it doesn't really matter because if you catch the right winds you catch the right winds, and obviously I got the right winds this time."

Mr Scaife said his wife was one of his toughest competitors, and constantly kept him on his toes.

"She beat me in the last one, so I always have to be on my game to take that top spot in the house," he said.