IN coming months a 5.4m tall carrot-themed rocket playground component is expected to be shipped out of Max Laver’s Piopio workshop, where he and Tony Williams (left) have been building it for some months.
THERE’S a carrot growing in a Piopio workshop. It’s not edible, will need a truck to transport it and it won’t be staying in town, but it’s hoped to bring joy to the many children who pass through Ohakune. Max Laver of Laver Marine has been working on the 5.4m tall carrot rocket ship for Ohakune Carrot Adventure Park with friend and problem solver Tony Williams. It will have a seat for people to pilot the ship and LED lights at the bottom of the boosters will make it appear as if the rocket is taking off. It’s hoped the fibreglass carrot rocket ship will be in place at Ohakune Carrot Adventure Park by summer. The carrot project fell into Max’s hands during a family visit to the park. “My wife and I have two young girls and we go to Ohakune quite a bit in the summertime. We’re not really skiers but we love walking around the track there,” he said. DAMAGE NOTED “That park is amazing. It’s a must-go. You almost go to Ohakune just to see this park.” On one visit Max noticed some sculptures at the park had been damaged and got chatting with the man fixing them. “I went over and said ‘I can help you fix these’. As it happened, they were on top of it, but we just got on like a house on fire.” The carrot rocket was mentioned as something Max might be interested in and after a visit from the trust in charge of the park, “boom” he had the job. “Next thing I knew they paid a deposit and we were building a carrot – which is great because I love that kind of stuff. “There’s no blueprint, there’s no manual on how you do it, you just make it up as you go along. “They gave us a model and we had to go off that.” Max and Tony started by drawing a plan on the floor, 200.8 times larger than the model they were given. Stage one – building the base of the carrot and the rocket boosters – was completed inside Max’s workshop. To build the rest to more than five metres tall the project has to be moved to a covered outdoor area. Max said once it was complete, it would be craned out of the yard and onto a truck to be transported at full size. FUN MOMENT “That’s going to be a fun moment,” Max said. “Tony and I have been having a few beers in the evening trying to figure out how we’re going to do that. We’ve come up with a few wild and whacky ideas, but I’m sure we’ll get there.” Max said while building a giant carrot based on one scale model had presented its challenges, he and Tony were enjoying the process. “It was a great project to get. It has kept Tony very busy and it has kept us on our toes trying to figure out how to build it and out of what materials so it would be strong enough and safe. “But we love doing that sort of stuff.” And once the carrot rocket is in place at Ohakune, it’s expected to be used by two beloved international internet stars. Max said in summer Josh Carrott and Ollie Kendal of the YouTube channel Jolly are planning to be back in the country and filming with the carrot rocket.
