Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Mar 10, 2015 19:52:54 GMT 12
from The Dominion Post....
Parrot 27 metres tall seen floating over Wairarapa
But no need to take cover ... it's all good fun
By CALEB HARRIS | 3:05PM - Tuesday, 10 March 2015
UNUSUAL SLIGHT: “Peg Leg Pete the Pirate Parrot”.
— Photo: MARK THOMPSON.
CARTERTON's early risers might have thought they had spilt some Caribbean rum in their coffee when a giant, peg-legged parrot floated by on Tuesday morning.
But the unusual sight was actually ‘Pete the Peg-Legged Pirate Parrot’ — the star attraction of the Wairarapa Balloon Festival, lifting off on Thursday.
The balloon is 27 metres tall, nearly twice the height of a rugby goal-post, and carries some 3,000 cubic metres of hot air — more than an Olympic swimming pool. After arriving from the USA for the festival it was unpacked on Tuesday morning and launched from Clareville near Carterton for a test flight.
Pilot Dave Reineke has flown in New Zealand before, turning heads with a Mr Potato Head-shaped balloon in 2002. But this is Peg-Leg Pete's debut appearance in Kiwi skies, and along with Balloons over Waikato later this month, probably his last. “Events usually rotate shapes out so it would be unusual for me to be able to come back with Peg-Leg Pete.”
Wairarapa was the perfect place for a balloon fiesta, he said. “Light winds, lots of open space, friendly land-owners ... it's just a fun area to fly.”
AVAST, ME HEARTIES: The 27-meter-tall “Peg Leg Pete the Pirate Parrot” balloon is the star attraction
of the 2015 Wairarapa Balloon Festival, starting on Thursday and running until Sunday.
— Photo: MARK THOMPSON.
Reineke, whose motto is listed on the balloon festival's website as “Aarrr you ready for a good time?” bought the big parrot in 2013. He said he was drawn to the balloon because it wasn't a one-dimensional character. “He wasn't just a pirate, he wasn't just a parrot — he was a pirate-parrot... he's just what I wanted and it got me back over here again, so that worked out too.”
People loved the balloon's detailed artwork, he said. "Right down to his whiskers and feathers and gold earring."
The annual festival begins on Thursday with a dawn mass ascension of balloons from Carterton's Carrington Park and runs until Sunday.
Apart from the piratical parrot, highlights include the fiery Tranzit Burner Parade, through Carterton and Greytown from 8pm on Friday, the Resene Island Hopper Challenge and Competition at Masterton's Henley Lake on Saturday at 7am, and the Trust House Night Glow at 6pm that night at Masterton's Solway Showgrounds.
• Visit NZ Balloons for more information.
www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wairarapa/67178156/Parrot-27-metres-tall-seen-floating-over-Wairarapa
