Just a short clip of the stadium cars’ bear on the horizontal bungee at the Rangiora A&P show a couple of weeks back!

 
Some drone footage of the Radical Run at the Rangiora New Life School student fun event

This week we had the great privilege to provide Bumperballs to Elmwood Oscar. We have balls of different sizes to cater to the small ones and the intermediates. The young ones especially like being barrel-rolled around and doing flips.

Sam took the drone and got some great footage. He’s getting a dab-hand at post production and this video is the fruit of his labours. Not bad, I reckon.

A question we are often asked:

“What is your wet weather policy?”

Our ‘inclement weather’ policy (high winds/rain) is as follows:

1… If the event is cancelled in good time such that staff haven’t been called out then the full amount for your event is repayable. The weather is no one’s fault and so we don’t think you should be penalised for it. This helps us too, as wet units are a pain to dry (especially in winter).

2… If your event is cancelled due to weather but staff have already arrived at our warehouse or are in their way to your event or even at your event, then we reserve the right to charge for staff time and transport costs.

3… If we have set up then the full amount is payable regardless of subsequent cancellation.

If the weather forecast is bad, we usually try to contact you in good time to make a decision.

Thankfully only a very few events are cancelled due to weather, but it is always best to have a back-up plan!

People often ask what I do in Winter. My usual reply is “Watch dollar signs run down the window panes”.

This last weekend I pegged in a castle at Rawhiti Domain. As I hammered in the last peg, I did wonder when the last time I had pegged in a bouncy castle! As it turns out it was quite a few weeks ago (about 6!). Autumn and Winter can be a bit sparse for inflatables. Thankfully some people have indoor venues available and also the weather can be quite nice with the sun out.

My advice for hiring bouncy castles in Winter?
1. If possible have an indoor venue available.
2. If indoors isn’t an option have a plan B in case it rains.
3. Remember the ground is often wet in the morning and the light fades quite early, so think about a late morning start/early afternoon finish!

Some people ask why we don’t leave inflatables up until the late hours. The answer is in the photo. By the time we pack down everything is damp. Left to themselves these units, mats etc would be quite smelly by the time they are next used! Thyese were at a large corporate job so it was worth it for us…as long as I keep telling myself that! One third of the units drying to day.

The University of Canterbury were at the Tactix game this last Sunday with prizes for those with a steady aim. Not a netball aim this time but balloon darts!

A couple of days ago it was “Test and Tag” time here at Bubbling with Energy! All leads, blowers, pumps etc are tested and tagged twice a year.

There are some that see this as a pointless exercise and perhaps it would be, except we regularly have leads and some (old) metal blowers fail. The leads are usually due to poor connections in the sockets or sheaths coming away from the plug, leaving the individual cables exposed. The blowers are due to old earth connections needing remaking. Probably all would function safely regardless, but what if it didn’t? Failed cables and blowers are repaired or thrown away.

At BWE, we take safety seriously, both for staff and customers. Compliance is (at least in this case) for good reason, not no reason.

Sean, Tom and Johan were on duty last Saturday for the last of season Jellie Pool Party. We had the Adrenaline Rush Extreme and Clown Slide at Jellie Aquatic Park to celebrate the end of season MoreFM Pool Party. You can see more photos of the event on the MoreFM facebook page.

Surely they’re not…

OK, we almost melted at Children’s Day, but for the thousands of children and parent’s who made the journey into the red zone for the event it was a great day.

The climbing wall, above, proved a great hit despite having to close the North facing sides due to the heat

I drove the little blue train for most of the event. Mike Coutts the train’s designer and builder arrived to see his wonderful creation entertaining the crowds.

The most poignant moment of the event though was, whilst waiting at the train station for passengers to reload, I talked to an elderly gentleman standing in the shade of a small oak tree. He planted that tree many years ago and lived on the corner where we were running the train from. How many memories where pouring through his mind as he stood and surveyed his home of twenty years? It was one of those times when you almost feel as if you are interrupting someone’s privacy. Sadly his home is no more. He has moved on, though – thankful to be alive and grateful to able to “see his tree” again.