FROM PUKEKO TO JONATHAN LIVINGSTONE SEAGULL

When Barry Price was a pukeko in the inaugural Russell Birdman Festival last year he won a prize for achieving the second longest "flight" from the historic town's wharf.
And that was in spite of the pukeko's serious problems at take-off. Mr Price's costume included a pair of flippers, painted red and with the webs cut out, and the clumsy footwear reduced his runway speed.
But for the second annual Birdman Festival on July 12, Mr Price will be a seagull. Not just any old gull - he will be Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the bird who strives for self-perfection in the 1970 Richard Bach bestseller of the same name.
The classy seagull will be aerodynamically perfect. Sixty-one-year-old Mr Price has been making model aeroplanes since age nine. He used a hot wire to cut Jonathan's body and wings from some underfloor polystyrene insulation he had lying around the backpackers' lodge he runs at Russell and put in wooden struts to reinforce the wings.
His partner, Jane Kneale, is coming up from Auckland soon to add the finishing touches - a Biggles-style leather flying helmet and scarf for Jonathan and a white fabric outfit to give Mr Price a seagull look.
Jonathan has tail elevation which theoretically could lift the pair across the Bay of Islands to Paihia, but that is not in the flight plan. Mr Price will have his head in a hole hollowed in the seagull's body and will be clinging on to the contraption by a pair of straps.
A festival organiser, Pania Sigley, said two safety boats and a diver would be stationed at the Russell Wharf to retrieve any Birdman competitors needing help.
There was a limit of 20 entrants last year and she expected a similar number of contestants this time round.
With fine weather, the festival was expected to attract a crowd of 3000, similar to last year. Along with the Birdman, the day would include a beach dig for children aged 10 and under, street stalls, kayak races, a spaghetti-eating contest and a barbecue cook-off competition.
A Birdman parade through the township at 1.45pm on July 12 will precede the 2pm jump.
There will also be a free concert by The Funky Monkeys, New Zealand's answer to the Wiggles. They will perform in Cass St for an hour from noon.
Ms Sigley said prizes for the Birdman contest included a marlin fishing trip valued at $1600, a helicopter ride worth $800, a visit to Whangarei's lion park and Bay of Islands accommodation.
Mr Price said he would fuel up with a stiff brandy before hitting the runway and ... soaring ... with Jonathan Livingston Seagull.