It was a Saturday morning when we rolled into Otaki Beach for a quiet stopover - Yeah Right.
The annual Kite/Balloon flying Festival was underway.
Despite the large crowd we found a good spot alongside the Surfclub to parkup.
The weather was perfect , the large units need 15 to 20km of wind to stay aloft.
The display was constantly changing.
The large units were flown by serious amateur balloonists and they needed to be.
The forces created were enormous !
The hawsers used were 16 to 20mm anchor warps , shackled to tractors and 4x4 vehicules and constantly monitored.
The launching area was roped off and was not accessible to the public.
Along the forshore the Mums and Dads and the kids came with there $2 shop kites for some fun.
Some of the bigger "Kids" had larger kites , like up to 2m for the main body and looooong tails.
Heavy gloves were needed to prevent string burns.
What really impressed us was the variety.
Some were the most unlikely shapes to fly and be stable.
Some hovered for hours with barely a movement while others twirled and sored as they were designed to do.
The "I love Otaki" banner was stable.
It always self corrected.
The string of tropical fish shimmeyed just like they were swimming.
The distant shots do not do justice to scene.
Check out the size of the people on the beach !
The detail of the Whale was impressive and its movement was of a whale breaking the surface to breath.
A telelense shot of the Turtle.
A string of ever increasing kites , there was 16 up when the photo was taken but they carried on adding to the line for about 30.
This one was incredible !
The head was stable but the long tenticiles (at least 20m) constantly revolved in opposite directions and did not tangle.
Kapiti Island still looms large even this far north.
Looking at a map the island does not look that big but it is fairly high and its the height that makes it dominate this coastline.
The whale doing what it does.
The 4x4 is an anchor for another unit and is closer to the camera.
The whale is probably some 3x the length of the 4x4.
These a "low Flyers".
In a gust of wind they raise up some 3m from the beach.
The Porpupine Fish is 5 to 6m in diameter and needed several lines to hold it down.
The Monkey never did catch up with the banana
The Stingray was very graceful.
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The porpupine fish raising up to the height of the sand dunes.
The yellow Octupus fluttered away all day.
A group scene.
There were several of these "Beds".
They were very stable , just hovered , virtually with no movement all day.
We had a great day .
Very relaxing and low key.
Except at lunchtime , we were at home when we saw 2 Box Kites , about 1.8m long bouncing along the road.
BC to the rescue.
With one in each hand he got them onto the verge and quickly learnt to keep them twisted on their side to depower them.
When the owners came staggering along they were so out of breath they needed to sit down and have a rest before they could thank me.
Cheers.
