Category Archives: Uncategorized

Orewa

“Rain rain go away, come back another day!” Orewa trickled in by dribs and drabs, wielding umbrellas and raincoats. Very brave of them!

Needless to say  Orewa was not our best fair. We got stuck in the mud again on our way out. And again a tractor had to help us.

We spent Monday at Orewa beach drawing mazes and playing in the sand, it was lovely! On the way back to Mim Dallas found a baby bird, but he had to let it go, so he cried, a lot!

Most of the other Gypsies headed to Hamilton, we went back to Auckland and stayed with the cousins again. On Tuesday we went to the Zoo and bug exhibition with my cousin Elsa. At the bug exhibition my favorite part was the Orchid Mantis dome and the Dragon fly dome. The huge model bugs were made by Weta workshop. An Orchid Mantis camouflages itself in beautiful Orchids and pounces on unsuspecting prey as it drinks nectar from the flowers. Dads favorite is the Jewel wasp, who when ready to lay its eggs, finds a cockroach, stings the part of its brain that controls its front legs so it can’t run away. It then does brain surgery on the cockroach removing its urge to run away, pretty much Zombiefying it. It then lays its egg on the cockroaches leg, so when the egg hatches, the larvae feasts on the living cockroach, leaving the vital organs until last to keep it fresh. Soooo disgusting! Yet fascinating. The Zoo was incredible too.

The next day we went wholesale crystal and fairy shopping. Crystal shopping makes me feel tired and starving because of all the crystal energy in the atmosphere.

My uncle Matt is the right man to stay with if your starving, he’s an amazing cook. Feeling well fed we headed for Hamilton and setup.

More rain on the way!

Auckland Anniversary weekend.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Ahh! I got shot… With a Nerf bullet! We had a massive Nerf war at the Extravaganza in Auckland. It was a hot and busy three dayer. Because the weekend was three days instead of the usual two day fair, we had a shorter week off, three days to be exact.

We spent two days at Shelly beach where we had another failed fishing attempt and only caught a small hammer head shark. It was useless to us but fascinating to see. We let it go.

On Wednesday night was the super moon, Blue moon, Blood moon eclipse! A super moon is where the moon becomes 14% bigger. A blue moon is when there are two full moons in a month. A blood moon is when the moon appears red and an eclipse is when the Earth gets between the sun and the moon so the moon is in the moons shadow. All this happens together every 150 years. The last time it happened was in 1866. Unfortunately it just had to be raining and cloudy so not many people in New Zealand got to see it.

The next day due to the super moon causing high tides and the wind and rain causing waves, the sea came right up the bank and onto the grass beside us. It was scary!

Super moon high tide at Shelly beach. Partial finger eclipse.

That evening we went to Puhoi to met up with Tiwai, Lette and Simone for dinner at the Puhoi pub. I love pub food, meat and chips!

That night I danced in the rain, thunder and lightning, got soaking wet and had lots of fun!

The next day we headed for Orewa to setup. Bye!

Whangarei

Burning heat, hot humidity, singing Cicadas and Pohutakawa trees by the beach. This is summer in Whangarei.

Whangarei was a hot one. Unfortunatly we did not put the pool up because we did not know it would be so hot, so in our shows (and after) we boiled! After our shows on hot days we all take turns at leaping in our blow up pool.

That weekend we had a J party for Jamal’s birthday. I went as a Jenie (a Genie with a J in front). There were so many different costumes; Jesus , Jellyfish, Jaguar, Jedi, Jose as in Spanish name (man wrapped in a hose) and many more.

On Monday we went to see the worlds greatest showman, an inspiring circus movie. That evening we arrived late at our park up at Taurikura bay by the base of Mt Mania with a few Gypsies.

Mt Mania looks so mysterious and unconquered. So we immediately had to conquer her. The walk up was a hot, sweaty, stair-filled, beautiful forest walk. Well well worth it. The three sixty views from the top were incredible!

Whangarei heads from summit of Mt Mania

After that we spent the next few days on the beach.

Waipu caves here we come! We spent a night in Waipu, then explored the amazing Waipu caves filled with luminescent glowworms. I highly recommend this activity.

That evening we waited in Orewa for the rush hour traffic to calm down, then made our way to Auckland and Craigavon park for setup the next day.

Wow! That week was a mixture of busy and calm, quite nice actually.

Good news! We have finally added an option to subscribe to my blog. You can tick the box at the bottom of this page under the comments box or use the option on right side bar. Then you will know when I put up a fresh post! Bye!

 

Matakana

Matakana Fair was as hot and busy as ever. I got sick again. This time we used natural remedies instead of antibiotics. It really worked.

Mathersons bay was our two day haunt after the fair. There was a track leading up a magical leafy valley to a Tea colored pool at the top of a waterfall. We swam, a little freaked out after seeing some slithery eels. The submerged rocks were a hazard for unsuspecting knees. The rope swing was awesome till the boys (who were spectating) had a punch up so it was time to go.

Strange rock formations at Mathersons bay.

A man came to talk to us claiming he was from the council. He said since we were already there we could stay the night but would have to leave in the morning due to our truck being 12m in length instead of 9m. We stayed two nights and found out he was only an old fart who lives up the road and comes down to harass  people. Beware of S.A.M (self appointed managers). Well rested we headed for Whangarei, stopping in why poo, whoops I mean Waipu for a rainy night.

On Thursday we sped to Whangarei to get there in time to see a movie, but when we looked online it was sold out! No wonder, we hadn’t booked and it was a grey rainy day. Never-mind because Dad, Ella and I went to see the new Star Wars movie that night at eight thirty. It was incredible! Friday morning the boys finally got to see the movie they missed out on, Ferdinand. Then it was setup for Whangarei Extravaganza. What a nice relaxed week. See ya!

Another festive season

Phew! Those were some crazy six weeks! Can you believe it? Six weeks, one and a half months without writing. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

The first fair of this post is Wellington which was as busy and windy as usual. Then we turtled over the hills to Masterton for a mini Christmas with Dads side of the family. I got a gift voucher for the warehouse! We all had a lovely time.

Waverly beach was our next stay, a beautiful rugged cliff lined shore.

Waverly beach. More cliff than beach.

When we were playing in mountains of wind whipped sea foam a Blue bottle stung me. We immediately raced to the truck and bathed the sting in vinegar. This did not help at all! So we looked online and found “Definitely do not apply vinegar. Bathe in water as hot as the victim can manage. Use vinegar on every other jellyfish sting.”  So we quickly heated up water and soaked the sting for thirty minutes. The stinging sensation went away.

That weekend was New Plymouth and the Festival of light. Together our family, the Nudge crew, Simone, Tiwai, Lette, Aden, Riley, Kieren and Heather went row boating on the lake at night, when all the lights were bright and shimmering. We raced, collided and gazed at the beauty of the light displays. What a splendid night! The weekend was not crazy busy but definitely busier than last year.

After that we had a ten day break! On our way to Auckland for another mini Christmas, we stopped for a night at Tongaparutu. The highlight of Tongaparutu is the three sisters who are three columns of rock jutting out of the sea. Its very beautiful.

 

One of the three sisters at Tongaparutu.

Then we moved on and dropped our car of at Purple Iain’s house in Pirongia.

We arrived in Auckland to be greeted with a flurry of hugs and kisses from my cousins Charlotte and Elsa and  Auntie Ellie and Uncle Matt. Mum’s side of the family. The next few days we spent swimming in pools, playing and celebrating another early Christmas.  I got an inflatable lilo.

It was a lovely family gathering. We also did a day trip to Rangitoto island and climbed to the summit.

A rare Saddle back on Rangitoto island. Plenty of bird life no pests or predators.

On the way back to Pirongioa to fetch the car we got stuck in the morning traffic going out of Auckland. It took ages! Finally we got the car and sped to Raglan. The next day was Christmas day and I got a compound bow!!! Unfortunately I also got strep throat. I spent the weekend in bed, no shows 🙁

We had one day off before moving on to Waihi Beach and New Years. Dallas got sick and better within one day and night. Very suspicious!

On New years eve I sat on Mum and Dads shoulders as we did the countdown, 10! 9! 8! 7!  6! 5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Everyone whoops and cheers, hugs and kisses each other! Its so exciting. I love New Years!

The next week was Whangamata, oops! I just remembered Whangamata was cancelled because the forcast was for very heavy rain and the grounds keeper didn’t want us to ruin the school field. But it turned out to be incredibly sunny! We had seven days to spare. Those seven days saw us through Te Aroha, Opal springs hot pools, Auckland and finally Matakana extravaganza.

Well that’s the end of another festive season, very busy!

 

Nelson to Wellington

We set up at Tahunanui Beach in Nelson. That Weekend was a flurry of screen printing, cooking classes(both thanks to Nico from Uruguay) and shows. I even got a visit from my Inspiration Andre Vegas the Illusionist, who watched my shows and gave me some ideas. He even spent a couple of hours sign writing the trolley I use in my Magic show.

While all the other Gypsy’s headed north we went back to Kina beach. We decided we were definitely coming back to Motueka for winter. It felt like coming home. On Tuesday I preformed my Magic show for the Motueka Steiner school. I was super excited to see my old school friends again and happy to know I would be going back there for the winter. After the show we went to Toad hall for real fruit ice-creams although I am dairy free so I had a coconut real fruit ice-cream. Yum! Then it was off to the resurgence for an icy cold dip.

The next day we spent a long boring day at riverside community while Dad fixed the truck, poor Daddy! That night we left for Graham river but just before we got there we came around the corner and slammed on the brakes. In front of us there was a terrible car crash. The whole front of the car had been smashed and the driver was badly hurt. Dad rushed to the scene and helped the man because he knew some first aid. It left me feeling shaken.

The next day we moved on from Graham river to Blenheim where we visited Cherry land. Cherry land is a cherry orchard where you can pick your own cherries for about half the price you can buy them from the supermarket. While you are picking you can eat as many as you want for nothing!

It was amazing how quickly we chewed through this bucket of cherries!

After that we drove our beautiful Mim onto the ferry, said good bye to the South island and hello to the North island. Wellington here we come!

 

 

Greymouth at its best!

We had a busy weekend, beautiful weather, good shows and lots of happy people. It really was Greymouth at its best! Unfortunately Mum was sick so no family shows but lots of magic shows.

Fox river sea cave. Would be wild in a storm.

Sunday night we left the grounds and drove to Fox river through the soft twilight on one of the most beautiful stretches of the west coast road. In the morning we woke to the sound of diggers in action. The workers asked us to move because we were right in their way so we drove to the other side of the road which was also a nice park up. After breakfast we walked to the old bridge going across Fox river. We just happened to get there at the perfect time, in the water there were tens of thousands of little fish flashing silver in the sunlight. It was astonishing! We spent the morning exploring tunnels and caves then sped off to Murchison where Dad sighted in his rifle.

Fox river sea cave. They used to unload boats at a ledge/wharf in the cave.

 

At about nine o’clock at night we arrived at Kina beach. Ahhh! Finally! Kina beach is our peaceful, relaxing spot where we stay every year before the busy, hot north island fairs.

The next three days we spent relaxing, catching up with friends and having fire baths. On Thursday night we went to see the amazing Alice in wonderland ballet and illusion show, with my friend Breeze from the Loop Crew.

Next weekend Nelson!

 

Wanaka

Wanaka weekend was the opposite to Queenstown weekend! It was hot and sunny, perfect for doing our shows.        It was so hot that me and some other Gypsy kids went for a swim in the lake. It was freezing!

On Monday Tiwai, Lette and Keanu joined our family and did clip and climb in Wanaka. We had a ball it was so much fun. My favorite part was the abseiling because unlike normal abseiling theres a machine at the top of the climbing wall that automatically takes up the slack rope as you climb. When you reach the top all you have to do is let go and lean back. Its quite scary at first. As it lowers you gently to the ground it feels like flying!

Gypsy spiders at clip and climb.

 

After that we sped off to ship creek cove on the west coast where we spent the night.

100% West coast.

When we woke up ate breakfast then walked the lovely forest board walk through the towering native Kahikatea trees. At lunch time we drove to Bruce bay, did some school work and bumped into Keanu Max and Julia again.

In Franz Josef we stayed a night at our friends Tom and Scarlet’s house. We had lots of fun playing together. The next day we moved onto the goldsborough D.O.C camp and went on the Goldsborough tunnel walk where Dad made us go into a really skinny, dark, slippery and wet tunnel. I got my jacket all dirty! I was not impressed.

Our next adventure was Shanty Town, a replica of an old mining town from the 1800s. You can ride a steam train up an old bush line, go gold panning and take home some real gold and tour all the shops in an old mining village. Each one is like a Museum. We all dressed up and had our photo taken in old fashioned costumes. It was great fun.

We moved on to Greymouth beach where we lit a fire and toasted marshmallows. As the tide came up it almost drowned our fire, but we stuck to it and dug trenches keeping it safe… For a while. Unfortunately the sea did kill the fire but that was ok, it was bed time anyway.

What a wonderful week! Next weekend Greymouth.

Queenstown and Glenorchy

Finally late Saturday afternoon Dad and Mim arrived at the grounds in Queenstown. We were back in action.

Even though it was scary that the truck had broken down and annoying that we had missed a whole day of trading, the silver lining was that I had a sleep over at my friend Mias house and I got to spend a whole day playing at the extravaganza with no shows!

That weekend was a washout! On Sunday afternoon we quickly packed up and sped of to the Vehicle testing station where we sneakily stayed the night. This was so we could be first in line for a recheck in the morning. We passed!

Fancy place to stay in Queenstown. $160 per night.

Glenorchy was our hangout spot for that week and we parked in our favorite spot by the lake.

Wednesday morning we awoke to a beautiful coating of glistening sparkling low snow. While a freezing wind blew off  the mountains we were cozy in our truck.

Dad took this shot looking over the islands near Glenorchy.

That week I stayed a night at my friend Alises house. Dad made the boys an awesome work bench. Daddy was very grumpy and he swore a lot because he had trouble getting it just right.

A terrible thing has happened! Mum took me to the Natropath(she was really nice) and now I have to be dairy free! Waaaaaaaa! My life as I know it is over!!!

That night we had dinner with one of my friends Vanessa and her family in Wanaka. Jezz I have a very social life!

Next weekend Extravaganza Wanaka.

 

 

Invercargill and Rakiura Stewart island

My brothers are now five years old. Can you believe it? It seems that just yesterday they were sweet little un-annoying babies. But now they are sweet annoying five year old little boys and I love them very much. Their birthday party was on Saturday night in Invercargill. This year the theme was Magical Realms, the boys were Dragons and I was a Mermaid!

Sunday night we left the grounds and parked at Auntie Sheryll and Uncle Petes house. Monday was just a rest day, we went shopping did school work and played games.

Early Tuesday morning we drove our truck into drop off at the Mechanics (it had failed a C.O.F)  then sped off to Bluff to catch our ferry across the Foveaux straight to Stewart Island Rakiura!

When we arrived some of the school kids came to meet us at the wharf, surprisingly one of them was a girl I used to go to school with when we lived in Queenstown. Her name was Tai. A local guy named Luke drove by and realized that we needed some help transporting our gear so he gave us his truck for the day leaving his credit card and money on the dashboard. Everyone there was so kind and trusting! We stayed at Pania and Daves downstairs appartment. It wasn’t very big but it was comfortable with a big flat screen T.V.

The next day at lunch time we drove down to the school(after watching some morning T.V) and performed our shows for the community.

Our Magic at Halfmoon bay.

 

On Thursday our last day on Stewart Island, we crossed on a ferry to Ulva Island to celebrate Dads birthday. As we were going off track to have a birthday picnic, we came across something incredible, a Kiwi! It was waddling around the bush eating grubs and insects. Then it spotted us and ran thundering through the trees. It really was quite fast. We followed it for a while then stopped for our picnic. I can imagine what it would be like picking one up, their soft fluffy fine feathers tickling my skin. But I have to say I don’t think their sharp pokey beak or their long sharp talons would be very nice to cuddle.

After Ulva Island we went Kayaking with Phil around Hope, Faith and Charity, three islands. But what if I were I to say there is four? What is the forth one called? I’ll let you figure it out.

The next morning we got up early and drove down to the ferry. Rakiura was amazing , but we were happy to be going back to Mim(our house truck) and onwards to Queenstown.

I guess we were a bit a bit tired after Rakiura!

We arrived in Invercargill got the truck and we were on our way! Uh OH! The clutch wasn’t working. Back to the Mechanics for us. They fiddled with it and we were off again! Queenstown here we come! Uh Oh! The clutch wasn’t working again, back we go! Mum and I got the boys from the truck and raced off to Queenstown leaving Dad and Mim in Invercargill. What will happen next? Find out in the next post of Dylans life.