It’s people like Peter Clarke who help make Auckland Council’s Ambury Farm Day a success.
The semi-retired kite maker has been involved with the family-fun day since the early 1990s and at 68 says he has no plans of walking away.
“It’s a great day out, especially for the kids,” he says.
The first year Peter was asked to take part he was allocated an area in the carpark to fly his kites but due to his kites attracting more people through the gates he was shifted the next year.
“All these cars started arriving and the carpark got so full.
“People were saying they didn’t know about the day but had seen all the kites in the sky so they came to check out what was going on.
“The next year I was kicked out of the carpark and moved to a bigger area,” he laughed.
Peter’s love and passion for kite-making has evolved over the years and allows him an escape from his day job as a diecaster.
“I’ve always had a passion for anything that blew in the wind. I was making and flying kites as a kid.”
He says back then his kites were made from plastic bags and sticks.
Now they are a “technical masterpiece”.
Peter is handy with a sewing machine and even made curtains for his house and clothes for his children “back in the day”.
Over the years, he and second wife Xiuzhi, have taken part in many Auckland events and kite-flying contests.
He still has his first-ever “large” kite that he made in the early 1990s, an eight-point star – which is over 6metres in diameter.
“I haven’t flow it for years, but it’s still in my garage.”
Peter will be at this year’s Ambury Farm Day on Sunday 20 October with all his “arsenal”.
“Just look for the large flying horse,” he laughs.
