Fireworks, fire dancers and Elena's jet

    Elena won a jet Saturday night.
    Okay, let's back up a bit.
    Saturday, Petone held its annual winter carnival down on the Esplanade. It started around noon and went until sometime after dark. (I can't tell you exactly what time it shut down because, well, I never wear a watch... but it was pretty dark at the time.) There were carnival games - the kind that promise you'll win a big teddy bear for your girlfriend if you can knock three bottles off their stand with a ball - as well as food stands, thrill rides and people selling everything from scarves to fire pits made from recycled metal.
    Down on the beach there were also a half dozen or so large wooden things... they weren't sculptures, probably you'd have to call them constructions. There was, for example, a giant drum set and a bat-like creature and even a ballet dancer. The crowd started shifting toward the beach at about 7 p.m. I know it was about 7 p.m. because I heard a paramedic talking on his radio as he also headed for the beach.
    Curious, Elena, Josep, his cousin Elena and I followed him.
    A few minutes later some guys appeared down by the water. They were twirling long sticks and each end of those sticks was on fire.
    Cool, I thought, fire dancers.
    They did some fancy twirls and some shuffling steps but they weren't there to dance.
    Much to my surprise, and the crowd's delight, they set the first wooden construction on fire.
    A minute or two later it was blazing merrily and fireworks that must have been placed inside it started shooting into the night sky.
    The crowd went "oooooh" and "aaaaaah."
     Dads put their kids on their shoulders to get a better view and, not to be outdone, a couple of young guys hoisted their girlfriends onto their shoulders. Cameras of all sizes and descriptions shot photos of the burning construction and the fireworks.
    Once the flames began to die down the fire walkers (they really weren't dancers) began twirling their blazing sticks and headed for the next construction.
    The crowd followed them, its numbers swelled by people farther down the midway.
    Again and again and again the fire walkers set the wooden constructions ablaze and each time they did the crowd "ooohed" and "aaahed" and clapped and shouted.
    It was amazing.
    We joined the procession, watching as each construction was set ablaze until, finally, they were all consumed by the flames.
    (I asked a few people why they were burning these constructions and no one seemed to know exactly. The most common answer: 'Well, mate, it's something we've always done, isn't it..."
    Thinking that this was the final act of the carnival, Elena and I went for a stroll down the midway to see what was on offer while Josep and his cousin lingered by the beach. We stopped at one place to check out what looked like very large metal artichokes. Turns out they were fire pits made from recycled metal sold by Tim Holman from up Auckland way. Nice guy Tim. He and I had a long chat while Elena eyed some jewelry made from recycled materials that a tall, dark-haired woman was selling.
    Since hauling one of Tim's heavy metal fire pits onto the plane back to Spain seemed like more than we could handle, we didn't buy one but I was sorely tempted.
    Anyway, back to the jet plane.
    As we were walking down the midway Elena saw a shooting gallery. Well, two of them actually but one of them featured machine guns that fired a hundred BB's in a few seconds and she wasn't interested in that because, as she said, "it's not very elegant."
    A few yards farther down the second shooting gallery featured pellet guns that looked a lot like the old.22 my grandfather owned back in the long ago. Elena headed straight for it.
    "How much?" she asked.
    "Five bucks for four shots," the guy behind the counter said.
    I paid him five bucks and Elena loaded the single shot rifle.
    The idea is that you have four shots to knock over four small wooden pins.
    "You're sure they'll fall?" Elena asked the counterman.
    He flashed her a skeptical look.
    "If you hit them they'll fall," he said and moved out of the way.
    Elena, who to the best of my knowledge has only fired a weapon of any kind once in her life - and that was on a sort of date with a guy she knows from Barcelona, sighted down the barrel and squeezed the trigger.
    The first pin fell.
    She reloaded and knocked down the second pin, reloaded and knocked down the third pin.
    By now the counterman was paying attention.
    Elena reloaded and knocked down the fourth pin.
    The counterman gave her a high five and told her she could pick a prize.
    She chose the toy jet airplane. It's a spring-loaded affair and, according to the package, it will fly 30 feet into the air.
   "We'll send it in a package to your grandchildren," she said casually as we walked off.
    I didn't reply: I was pretty much in awe right about then.
   We were checking out some other stands along the midway when the sky suddenly lit up with a great "Boom!".
    Fireworks.
    Lots and lots of fireworks.
    "I thought the fireworks were over," I said as we headed back toward the beach to watch them.
    "Apparently not," Elena said.
    They were pretty spectacular as they burst into brilliant colors over the water. In the far distance you could see the lights of Wellington and I wondered if there were people gathered on the Queen's Wharf there watching the fireworks as well.
    With a barrage of explosions the final fireworks tore holes in the fabric of the night sky and it was over.
    People began drifting back toward the center of town, excited voices filling the darkness.
    "Pretty cool," I said as we headed to La Bella Italia for a late dinner.
    Pretty darn cool.

Fireworks from one of the burning wooden constructions at the Petone Winter Carnival.

This bat-like creature was one of the wooden constructions on the beach. A few minutes later it was blazing.

Stilt walker at the Petone Winter Carnival.

This giant drum set was so well done it was almost a shame to watch it burn.

One of the games along the midway. Reminded me of the carnivals on the beach in Ashtabula, Ohio when I was a kid.

Fireworks during the grand finale at the Petone Winter Carnival.

More grand finale fireworks.

In addition to everything else, there was a lot of music at the Petone Winter Carnival.

These fire pits are made from recycled metal. You can see more at TimHolman.com.