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.
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.
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!
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.
Our three day weekend was cloudy, windy, rainy and dismal.
On Sunday night Kai and Tash held their birthday party, a silent disco! A silent disco is where everyone wears special headphones that played 2 channels of music. For instance we had green and blue (lights depending on channel) some parties have thousands of these headphones with up to four different channels. It was so much fun! I hope we have another silent disco some time soon.
Now to the Catlins! A Doc camp ground at Papatowai was our host for two nights. We wandered the beaches spotting seals and resting.
Unwinding at the beach.
Then on Thursday we drove down the road to the lost Gypsy gallery where Blair has created an intriguing collection of ingenious inventions, this is a must do experience.
Our next adventure was at Curio bays petrified forest. Although the trees were no longer standing, you get the feeling you are in the middle of a dense and ancient forest.
What an adventurous week! Next weekend Invercargill and Stewart island.
Dress up time! My favorite thing about Omarau is all the cool old clothes they wear. Omarau is New Zealands steam punk capital.
Hipsy and Purple sure know how to dress up!
On Thursday night Mum and Dad went on a date leaving Csalym and I babysitting the boys. It went really well and with a bit of bribery, “Big ice-creams tomorrow!” we managed to put them to bed without a fight.
On Saturday I tried to take Lettie to the White-stone Museum, unfortunately we were to young to go by ourselves. This made me really upset and powerless because I think that we are completely mature enough. We did get to see the Americas cup pass by on its tour of New Zealand.
After that fun filled weekend we moved on to all day bay where we spent three nights playing, schooling and resting.
On Wednesday morning we left all day bay and headed for Moeraki boulders where we parked the truck and went to trotters gorge for a bush walk. I didn’t want to walk up the hill at first, but when I reached the top the views were great and it definitely worth the walk.
Weta experience! Opps I mean what an experience! I laughed in the face of danger and screamed in the face of Weta! After that we drove to Dunedin where we parked the night at the beach.
The next day we woke up nice and early and zoomed off to the oval for our interview with the breeze. It went swimmingly well even though we missed hearing it on the radio.
After the interview we went on a tour through the Cadbury chocolate factory.
I thoroughly suggest going there, it ends with a chocolate waterfall! After that we were joined by Tewai and Lettie at the Dunedin Museum, exploring a new exhibition: The Permian period, creatures before Dinosaurs!
Well that’s the end of that wonderful week. See you next Weekend Dunedin.
Beep, Beep, Beep! Zooming down around the loop honking our horn is one of my favorite things about Timaru.
Unfortunately Timaru was not as welcoming as Ashburton, we were greeted by grey cloudy skies and stuttering rain. The rain continued all weekend and on Sunday we had to cancel our shows. We did not mind though, it was nice to have a break.
The weekend was the usual play, music and laughter with a couple of hours in the pool added in.
On Monday we trucked off to Waimate with my friend cashlym who came with us for the week. We went to the tame wallaby park where we fed and patted Wallabies. The next day Dad went out and shot two wild ones, he didn’t get much support on that!
Mother and Joey!Peacock showing off at Wallaby park.
Cashlym and I made the best ever Lemon meringue pie. Yum!
Good team effort on a multi part recipe!Really sensational!
Wednesday saw us heading for Elephant rocks. The unique limestone rock formations a great place for hide and seek.
After a fun filled few hours we headed for Oamaru and parked up in the Victorian precinct.
I love Omaru. The old limestone buildings make me feel like i have traveled back in time. Mum gave Cashlym and I $20 and we went off on our own to explore the precinct. On our trip we visited Purple, she kindly gave us three pairs of steam punk high heels.
I am looking fowards to dressing up for this weekends steam punk themed Extravaganza!
On Friday morning we set-up at the Ashburton Domain right next to an awesome playground.
In the winter time our beloved Madame Feather died so this weekend we had a pot-luck dinner in her honour.
Here is an interview I did with Madam Feather last season. Thanks Feather.
Last season we had some trouble with local kids stealing stuff, so we took turns patrolling through the night. It was a fun weekend full of laughter and play, and it just kept on going with a sleep-over with Tiwai and Lettie on Monday night. That was the last straw for me, I came home so tired and sick but I did have fun!
Dad fixed the truck and we finally left Ashburton on Tuesday afternoon. We ended up at Peskys park with Sue and Dave near Geraldine.
Our friends Nicole and her two little boys came to camp with us and we explored Mt Peel forest together marveling at the giant Totaras. It was little boy hell!
Pretty little waterfall at Mt Peel.
The Dragon boys!
Next weekend Timaru. I will get to see Cashlym (Salem).
Late at night we arrived at the Christchurch working-mans club right next to the fair grounds and parked there also were Tiwai and Lettie! It was so good to see them again! We went to sleep and woke up buzzing with excitement, today was set-up for the Extravaganza! Driving into the grounds I raced outside and gave everyone hugs and kisses.
Then started the bustle of activity, just like Bees they buzzed around doing their busy Bee business, setting-up for the weekends Extravaganza! The weekend flashed by in a daze of new shows, wild romps and ended dramatically with most of the big trucks getting stuck including us! Again. Luckily we heaved on out leaving a trail of mud and destruction behind us.
For two days we stayed at the working-mans club playing with snails and an old shopping trolley.
Portable snail farm fun.
Then we moved on to Mount Huts Awa Awa Rata reserve which was home to some great bush walks through native bush.
Foggy above the bush line at Mt hutt.
All and all Christchurch was an awesome start to the season and a great fair. See you next weekend in Ashburton.
Touch down! Stepping off the plane crip clear fresh air engulfed us, and the full moon welcomed us back to Queenstown.
The next three days were a frenzy of flat batteries, impromptu dinner parties, long sleep-overs, busy pack-ups, good byes and finally a late night dash to Cromwell.
A warm cozy feeling swept over me, we were going home, back to the Extravaganza. On the way we stopped for dinner at my friend Vanessa’s house in Wanaka, then we sped on through the Lindis pass.
We stayed in Tekepo for three nights, soaking in the hot pools, playing and getting ready for the seasons first Extravaganza!
Dallas and Jaz having fun in the mud and rain, just before they realised their gumboots were completely stuck in the mud and Dad had to rescue them!
I am excited for all the adventures ahead, the ups and the downs, the good times and the bad times(maybe not the bad times), the Extravaganza and life on the road in the seven months ahead.
