Greeted by a group of Indians and Germans who had also recently
arrived. Transported by bus to the venue ( Sheman ) on the
northern tip of Taiwan. Accommodation for us was in a hotel
across the road from the festival site. Others were accommodated
in a Buddhist monastery several kilometres away.
Met up with the rest of the Australian team and caught up on what had been happening so far. Met a number of the other flyers. Off to bed ( late ) to try and get some sleep which at that stage was already lacking.
Saturday morning awoke to a moderate wind. Went downstairs for breakfast of foods that I had not previously tried. A whole new experience!
Headed off up to the flying field ( beach ), to find out where
we were to be competing. Wind by this stage becoming quite
strong. The organisers had done a tremendous job of preparation.
Everything laid out well and everything catered for.
Obviously they had spent time making sure that they had
it right.
The draw and format of competition were explained and we formed
into groups to fly off our round robins. I actually managed to
gain a point even if it was by default ( the Indian that I was fighting
against had his bottom bridle break ). The conditions were
extremely difficult with gusty winds combined with kites from other groups
entering our area and cutting down our kites before we could compete.
Midway through our competition we were required to gather into our national teams in the main assembly area. We were treated to an Olympic-like introduction to the crowd with an accompaniment of traditional drumming. We then heard the mayor / governor of Taipei county give his opening speech which included an invitation to return next year!
Following this we returned to complete our competitions. Needless to say I finished at the bottom of my pool. But I had fun and I was in there having a go!
Saturday evening was spent firstly having a banquet followed by live stage entertainment and fireworks! That went off with a bang. Saturday night was spent in the usual bartering and wheeling and dealing fashion interspersed with yarns and beverages. It's good to be able to put faces to names!
Sunday arrived after a few hours of sleep, with light to
moderate winds. We assembled at the competition area to see
the final teams compete and to decide the winner. And the
winner is Siddoney! Well actually it was Hong Kong.
They are just so fast with their method of flying from the
reel that although it is possible to beat them, it is not consistently
possible
.
We then formed into our teams for a team round robin format
which was good fun. Basically each team was allowed five kites.
One flyer could fly all five with his team mates assisting or
each member could fly a kite or any combination, the only limiting factor
being the number of kites available. Each team was required to
have a kite fighting and at the same time a kite airborne waiting to enter
the fight should their first kite be cut down. We went up against
the Brits and I managed to cut down one of their flyers before succumbing
to their next competitor. Having completed this competition we
then had a team fight where three members of each team all launched kites
together and then proceeded to fight against the three kites of their
opposition. That was a real buzz, trying to cut down your
opponent without cutting down your team mate and trying to avoid being cut
down yourself. Needless to say Hong Kong were the overall
winners of this competition as well.
Following this we moved up the beach to give a demonstration
of kite fighting in the main arena. The crowd were very
appreciative ( or polite ) and we managed to get across the gist of what
was involved.
Sunday evening and we were treated to another banquet
followed by a presentation ceremony. Each team was presented
with a plaque to commemorate the festival and to thank us for our
participation. The winners of the fighter kite competition
were presented with their trophies and then it was party time Taiwanese
style with beer and fireworks laid on! A highlight of the
evening was the launching of fifteen ( representing the number of
participating countries ), night lights. These white tissue
hot air balloons launched into a gentle night breeze and floated magically
off into the distance.
A personal buzz for me on both nights was to fly a white fighter that I had prepared with reflective tape up its spine and down both leading edges. Although I wasn't able to see the effect from where I was, I was informed later that it was very visible to the other spectators.
Sunday night was spent with more beverages, barter, brandishing and very little sleep.
Thank you to the government of Taipei County, Angela Wu,
Alfred Lee and finally to Peter Stauffer for all of his work organising
the team , uniforms, badges and for including me in it. As
the Americans said when they returned home, in one word, WOW!