Interesting looking homemade carts ranging from hastily decorated tricycles to high-tech rolling machines took to the Collingwood hill in downtown Nelson to see who could roll down the hill the fastest. Two participants from the same category head down the steep street to see who can cross the finish line first to advance to the next heat. Vehicles must be less than 300 cm long, 120 cm wide, and less than 40 kg. No engines allowed. Carts must have at least three wheels.
This year, the weather was horrible. The heavy rain was unrelenting, but the event was still on - sort of. The organizers must have been struggling with whether they should continue or not. They decided to run the races, but not time them. I suspect the stop watch was not waterproof.
The running of the balls event was cancelled at the last minute when they discovered the ink would wash off the balls in the rain. Sponsored balls are usually let loose down the hill to see who's numbered ball reaches the finish line first.
The youngest participant was three years old!
He won his first heat and advanced through to compete against the Red Baron in the nipper category.
The nippers start half way down the hill. We couldn't tell who won, but it looked close.
Some carts were absolute works of art...
This heat was much closer than it looked...
There was even a bat mobile...
Some deserved points just for being funny...
The kids were the best. How awesome for a little tyke to build his / her own cart and race it down the hill in a big event like this.
There were some spills. The cart in the background of this picture is about to throw the driver and break his collar bone...
He learned how not to design his steering next year.
Mabe Beck will be interested in participating when he turns three. Stay tuned.
8 comments:
Who won? That red baron plane was cool.
They weren't really paying that much attention to who won. It was hard to tell from where we were standing. I know that would be different in the US.
Regards,
Oliver
Such a cool event. Since they don't pay attention to 'who won', it seems to bring out the creativity... unlike that 'soap box' derby in the US where they are all basically riding down the hill all in the same "pill box" with the integrated helmet.
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Oliver- ace fotos as usual. We're just running out, but I wanted to say happy mother's day to mum...I couldn't get you on skype this morning and your email address is on the other computer, so I thought I'd drop you a line here. love you all...I'll try later tonight I might catch them before they leave.
xxxlara
Hey Ted,
Thanks for the comment. I've never been to a soap box derby in the US. It would be interesting to see how different it is. Things here in NZ are usually much more laid back. At the same time, New Zealanders really get into what they're doing.
Anonymous,
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Lara,
I passed on the mother's day wish from you to mum.
Love,
Oliver
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