RUSSELL BIRDMAN FESTIVAL - NEW ZEALAND

23rd Jul 2011

The pier at Russell. Scene of the action

It's all go here, hence slow blogging. Scarcely time to scrape the sand out of my y-fronts when we are off to the Great Annual Russell Birdman Festival. Lots of activities and competitions throughout the day which attracted a healthy crowd on what was, fortunately, a reasonably sunny, with the odd heavy shower, day. I think the organisation which runs Russell manages to promote quite a few such entertainments to keep the local populace amused.

There were barbeque cooking competitions ( left ) and fashion shows ( only men in drag ), and many other things which I've forgotten.

.....and ( right ) the final of the under 12s spaghetti eating competition.....but the highspot of the day was the parade of the 'Birdmen' followed by their 'flight' off the pier.

The parade consisted of about 15 'teams' all with a different theme. This was not just a question of flying off the end of the pier, ho no!, this was about doing a performance. On the left here you can see the 'Dr Who' team limbering up.......

 

Right........and the local surfing champion, followed by the tour bus company and the Jamaican bobsleigh team.......

 

....with a rather ambitious looking attempt by a bunch of hanglider enthusiasts.....

 

The whole idea was to produce an act down the pier accompanied by much background music and hamming it up. Some of the 'acts' were hilarious. There was a Star Wars team and the local Doc accompanied by several children doing a Mary Poppins 'chim chiminey' thing. The Doc, plus umbrella, looked as if he did himself a serious injury as he plummeted off the end....adding much to the hilarity of the occasion. This lot ( right ) were doing their bit to the Birdy Song. 

....and there goes Dr Who, in his tardis, pursued by the dalek. They all ended up in a heap in the water.....

 

...and the Jamaican bobsleigh team who did lots of practice starts and run ups. I think they were quite cunning. I notice that they could get away with wearing wet-suits as per the neoprene go-faster suits worn by bobsleighers, and the water was freezing cold ( so I'm told ).

 

.....the hanglider attempt rather failed to take off, but not before it had pushed a few unsuspecting cameramen off the pier during a swerving rather drunken looking take-off run....

....and one guy was dressed up as somthing in red with a big red rocket. Don't quite remember what he was but his rocket gave off a lot of smoke and kept going for a long time after they hit the water. There were many others including a 'stoneage disco' and a group doing the 'Ka mate' haka..

It was all great fun. There is so much scope for amusing 'acts' here. Sad I won't be around next year.... or maybe I should be grateful. I was trying to persuade Debbie and Dominique, left, to give it a go next year but again my ridiculous suggestions ( intercontinental ballistic missile was one ) were not met with much enthusiasm.

Off down to Auckland tomorrow to start my Grand Tour of New Zealand. I think I will be travelling with an organisation called the Naked Bus. It is cheap and, I think, probably the bus equivalent of Ryanair. Also, where possible, by rail.

 More to follow in due course.