The week after Ashburton we tootled down to a spot by the Waitaki river, we spent Wednesday and Thursday practicing the shows, doing schoolwork, and the men of the family fishing and failing (again). On the Thursday afternoon we sped off to Oamaru, and parked on the grounds for set up tomorrow. We cooked up our second gypsy bakers, a carrot cake, everyone said it was the best Lettie and I had ever baked!
Oamaru is one of my fav towns, I love the Victorian precinct with all its old Oamaru stone building’s covered with ornate carvings. I love the quaint little shops, like the Slightly foxed bookshop, and Tiger Lily antique clothing store, Harbor St collective café with its indoor playground and yummy cakes.
Every year in Oamaru on the Saturday night, all the gypsies walk to the steampunk HQ and train. Where we use our $2 coins to fire up the train and make it spout fire and steam!
On top of the fiery train!
After the train we all quietly went to check out the penguin colony right next to the fair. Penguins are hilarious and adorable at the same time! Out of the water, their natural habitat, they clumsily hop from rock to rock to their little wooden homes to feed their chicks.
🤣
The weekend was cold windy and sunny all at once, the freezing wind pierced through our many layers of clothing, and froze us to the bone. Nevertheless we still got large and generous crowds for the shows!
Sophia Leon de la Barra a wonderful lady who watched our shows, offered us free penny farthing lessons! We took up the kind offer and the next morning we were out in the street with Sophia, our penny farthings and a nervous/excited feeling in the pit of our stomachs. Sophia was a great teacher, so we soon we got the hang of it and were pedalling around the carpark. It feels very strange and quite different to a normal bicycle, but once you get used to it you feel quite posh!
The week after Oamaru we headed over to All day bay, where we hung out with the other gypsy kids, and did schoolwork (the boys a bit too reluctantly). Lettie and I took some glorious beach pic’s!
Then we left for Trotters gorge. Trotters gorge is a beautiful nature reserve, dominated by large limestone cliffs and native bush. The last time we went there was two years ago, I was 12 and the boys were 5! We climbed to the top of the hill, and were greeted by a spectacular view of the sea and surrounding countryside. Last time Mum and I ran ahead and hid in a cave to scare Dad and the boys, but when they arrived it was us that got the fright. We turned our torch on, straight above us was heaps of Weta! We screamed and ran out of the cave, consequentially terrifying the the boys😂. This time there was no shortage in weta either, I get so squeamish around bugs!
I hope you enjoyed my latest post! please subscribe if you wish to receive an email for each new post😘.
Hi! So this blog is a summary of the start of the season, Blenheim, Nelson, Christchurch & Ashburton. It has been crazy busy, but super fun!
Our first fair was in Blenheim. It was soooooo great to see my Gypsy family again! After lots of hugging and “Wow you’ve grown so much!” & “Dammit your taller than me!” & “How was your winter?” we setup the fair. Sadly as it was still level 2, we could not perform our shows yet to the public. So we performed them on Friday to the gypsy’s instead. They loved them!
Daddy Clown figuring out how to use the phone😂
The rules of level two state, that any performance or entertainment where people sit or stand close together for any period of time, has to be less then 100 people. But if it’s a market where people are walking and moving around, then the coronavirus “won’t spread”. Obviously its ridiculous, but that’s the rules unfortunately.
We spent that week at Kina beach, chilling and practicing our shows for the weekend. We love Kina, the sound of the sea lapping against the stony beach, the way that at night you can see all the way across the bay to Nelson, the rope swing over the muddy stream that is the confluence of kids.
Bess the lovely journalist and Martin the friendly Photographer came on Tuesday, to interview us for an Ashton family article, about our lives on the road. It comes out in November, so I shall put the link on Gypsygirl then.
Thankfully we went down to level one for the Nelson fair, so we were able to preform our shows to all our friends from Motueka. The new shows went smoothly…. just kidding! We were quite overwhelmed as we hadn’t preformed to large audiences for 6 months, we forgot props and made mistakes, but the audience still loved it😅. By the end of the day I was a wreck! Life on the fair is intense, but we love it!
Show selfies😘✌
🤣
In the week after the Nelson fair, us and some of the other gypsies headed for the Waima river mouth sand dunes. When we got there the fist thing we did was get stuck. Dad had to spend three hours (!!!) jacking the truck up, and placing heavy blocks of wood underneath, where would we be without you daddy bear! We stayed for one night/two days then carried on to bike the Haumuri bluff walk.
As you will see in the video it’s an idyllic ride along the sea, the only down side was that the path was covered with large stones, that made the biking part itself rather unenjoyable! Nevertheless I loved the view, and the seals! We spent all of the next day at Hanmer springs soaking in the hot pools. Unfortunately a change in the timing of our tour, meant that we arrived in the school holidays, when Hanmer was at its busiest! Aggghhh! Us gypos hate waiting in queues! So we had to satisfy ourselves with just soaking, no waiting in a queue of impatient shivering kids for twenty freezing minutes for the hydro slides, NO thank you!!!
Christchurch fair was fun, busy and super hot! That weekend we got into the swing of things again, we preformed the shows beautifully😁. Dad and I went out on Saturday with Lime scooters, for our annual father daughter date at Sweet Soul Patisserie, YUMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!
A twist of Cappuccino flavour and Peanut butter mousse & a Hagley Cherry Blossom treat!!!🍒🌸🥜
Stuffed with real fresh cherry’s!! 🍒
For the week in-between Chch and Ashburton we decided to head over the hill to Akaroa. Akaroa is a small town on the Banks Peninsula, it is known for its French heritage, so there is the most delish French bakery. I could eat a thousand almond croissants🥐🥖🥐🥖🥐🥖🥐🥖😍!!!! By chance my godmother Sunny sky and her daughter Indigo were on a road trip together and had come over to Akaroa, we spent the week with them exploring the bay.
Banks Peninsula and Akaroa Harbor
The first thing we did was walk through town, check out the museum and have lunch (for me an almond croissant & a nutella crêpe😁) then we went up the road to the Giants house. The Giants house is a historic Akaroa house full of beautiful artworks, terraced gardens with stunning sculptures, mosaics and ceramics, all made by artist Josie Martin. Josie brought the house 23 years ago. She loves gardening and was digging in the garden 20 years ago when she found shards of lovely old china, buried because there was no rubbish collection in those early days. She saved it up and decided to try mosaicing the front step, then she did the conservatory, then the pathway, then turned the whole garden into a wonderful sculptural installation!
Josie Martin
On the way there we stopped in at a beautiful old wooden church, Dallas read us a page of the bible😂
the Giant’s House
Our beautiful Sunny Sky!
Kings and Queens
We went for a walk up a hill and guess what we found!
The open savannas of Akaroa🦒
We have a friend in Akaroa called Pip, Mum and her used to work together at Hackett bungy in Queenstown, twenty years ago! The last time we saw her I was 7 and the boys were 6 moths old. As it so happens she has a job at the Black Cat Dolphin Cruises, and as it so happened we got on free! We’ve got friends in high places😁.
The tour was stunning! We saw five Hectors dolphins, which was unusual as they normally travel in groups of two or even one, only occasionally do they join forces with others. Like always Dallas puked, which left him with a large appetite for the fish and chips afterwards. There’s nothing like boating then eating seafood! Thanks Pip for the free cruise!!
The Hectors dolphin🐬
The size comparison of the Hectors dolphin to a human
Hector’s dolphin is the smallest dolphin species. They are known for their rounded dorsal fin, in the tour guides words “Imagine Micky Mouse’s ears on a dolphin”
Ashburton fair was quite cold and not too busy, but our shows were the best we’ve done yet!
Not impressed😂
I hope you enjoyed this post from Blenheim to Ashburton. Until next time😘!
I went to high school for 7 weeks! At first it was very scary and I was quite shy of the hundreds of teenagers. Then I got used to the hoards of hormonal teens, I got used to all the tik tok girls, and all the fortnite boys, and actually made friends with a few of these strange creatures. It really helped that most of my friends from Steiner school ended up at M.H.S (Motueka high school).
Wearing a uniform is so annoying!
At Mot high you have; your core class, your form class, and your options class’s.
Your core class is your main class in which you get randomly placed, since I am only going there for a term I got to choose what class I wanted to go in. You do Maths, English, Social studies, Science and PE with different teachers and different classrooms.
Your form class is where you go for for 15 minutes before morning tea, so your teacher can read out the school notices. once again it is totally random which class go get put into.
Lastly your option class’s! These are the class’s that you can choose e.g. woodwork, food-tech, drama, dance, art, ect… I chose Drama and Food-tech. In food tech we made bliss balls, stuffed kumara, salsa, nachos, naan bread, calzones, and chicken laksa, so goooooood!
Every year they have a talent competition called Talent Quest, anyone can enter but only a few of each category (Singing, Dance, Variety and Drama) get into the finals. I entered with my whips and hula hoops, and got into the finals! Unfortunately Covid sprung up again in Auckland and we all went into level 2, Talent Quest was postponed by two weeks😢.
When it finally came it was so much fun! Unfortunately the school was a bit unsure of what to do covid wise, first they said that it would only be filmed and have no audience. Then they said that any Mot high students who wanted to, could come to “keep it in the bubble” which doesn’t make sense surely the parents should be able to come, as they are also in “the bubble”. Anyway….. There was some awesome talent, and it was very entertaining to watch! I really enjoyed preforming on an actual stage with spotlights, curtains and all.
Sorry for the blurry pic!
I cant believe we are going back on the fair tomorrow! This has been one looooooooong winter!! I enjoyed this winter, I learnt how to hula hoop in quarantine, I had time to work on the magic show fully and the circus show, I went to high school, I even got payed $100 to preform a fire show, for the kindergarten on Matariki! But nevertheless I still can’t wait to travel again, and see my Gypsy family!!!
Hi everyone! I know this is a bit late, seeing as it was on the 26 of may, But…..I’m 14! This year for the first time I had a small birthday party, Just four of us. We started with a Mad Hatters tea party; down by the river in a magical clearing we sipped lady grey tea (fancier then earl grey), from my child hood fairy tea set and nibbled delicious dainties. Homemade bunting strewn around the hanging vines made it feel like I was back on the Extravaganza!
We went into Motueka for some Opshopping, they all closed (it was a Saturday…) So naturally we hit the $2 shop and brought the essentials:
Poo sunglasses
Fart putty
Toilet pens
Watermelon socks
Taco socks
Avocado socks
To top it all off we visited the Warehouse for Tik Tac’s. We were a shop owners worst nightmare, a gang of teenage girls touching everything and buying nothing!
Then the main event, Poker and mocktails! We all went up to my room and proceeded to smear ourselves in makeup and put on our most glamorous gowns.
❤❤❤❤
Then we thundered back down the stairs and into the stunning room Mum, Dad, Dallas, and Jaz had set up, there were trays of snacks and yummys on the side board and it was game on! We finished with a movie and messed around till 3 am. The best birthday ever! It was so great to see my beautiful friends again. Thanks Mum and Dad for making it so special❤❤❤!
♥♦Poker♠♣
Dad Mixing our Mocktails.
I got a bit carried away.….😂
Mount Arthur failure
Itchy feet, twins with endless energy, Dad looking constantly at the hills, once again it was mission time! Dad really wanted to take Mum and the boys up to the summit of Mt Arthur, as him and I had already done so in 4 years ago when I was 10. We found the right day weather wise, and drove the 40 minute winding unsealed steep road to Flora car park, after leaving our Chihuahuas (Jema, Pixie and Raccoon) at the “Four Foot Lodge” Animal Boarding Kennel & Cattery.
When we got to the start of the track a freezing wind was blowing and we slipped on our puffer jackets, we started walking hoping that it would warm us up, it did not. Murky clouds flew overhead as we trudged up the bleak but beautiful path. After one and a half hours we reached Mount Arthur hut, icicles hung from the snow dusted trees it was a frozen fairyland, thankfully the fire had been left going, so the tiny hut was toasty. We melted in front of the fire and unpacked our sleeping bags then read some “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt 1” while slurping hot chocolate.
Taking a break with stunning views.
Having got there way to early (1pm), we were left with two wrestling crazy boys, somehow still full of energy! It was a looooooooooooooong afternoon. Right at the height of a testosterone fueled wrestling match, in walked Nick from Holland who joined us in the hut for the night. Poor man.
It may look sunny but the wind was ferocious!
We woke up to low grey racing clouds and an angry drizzle of freezing rain, Dad was being menacingly cheerful ” It’s just a bit of rain, heaps of people go tramping in the rain” he insisted. I don’t give a toss if “heaps of people go tramping in the rain” I’m bloody well not walking to the top of Mount Arthur in this weather! Of course I kept my swear words to myself for Dads sake. In the end post walking part way up the hill, we managed to persuade him that it was horrible, cold and windy and that we should turn around and head back to the car!
Itchy feet, Twins full of endless energy, Dad looking constantly at the hills, all definite signs of staying home too long, we needed an adventure! Soon after Level two hit, we were off on the perfect Mission, Angelus hut!
Sunrise
Angelus Hut walk
Sunday 17 may we woke up early, got all our gear together, and drove to St Arnaud a tiny picturesque Ski Town that acts as a gateway to the Nelson Lakes National Park. We arrive at the car park by the start of the track, the cold air biting our lungs with sharp teeth and waking up our sleepy morning selves. I hoist my large pack onto my shoulders and we set off, up the sunbeam dappled path.
Three days of walking… The first day was all uphill to Bushline hut where we stayed the night, and had the place all to our selves. The second day we walked along the bare rocky mountain tops, enveloped in staggeringly stunning views over the Nelson Lakes National Park.
Incredible views!
After being in Lockdown for so long, it was refreshing to look over all the greens and blues of Aotearoa. There’s a whole world out there!
Lake Rotoiti and St Arnaud.
At lunch time we reached the rocky garden, an unwelcome ankle twisting hindrance. The rocky garden as we named it, is roughly two and a half hours of walking over rocks of varied sizes, from Boulders to pebbles, all with the capability to wreak your ankles. Pure hell! Thankfully after multiple false tops we arrived at the ridge overlooking Angelus hut, I had never been more relieved to see that hut!
The post card worthy view of Angelus hut.
The next day I made pancakes on the fire, then we packed up and walked all the way back to the car.
Pancakes with cream and maple syrup!
That was one of the best and most beautiful walks I’ve ever done! Though it was challenging, mentally and psychically we did it, and now we feel better for it.
Some culture and history
Legend tells the story of Rākaihautū, chief and explorer who came to Aotearoa and travelled with his people to the great mountains. With his kō (digging stick) Rākaihautū dug enormous holes that filled with water. He filled them with kai (food) for those who followed.
The lakes, Rotoiti and Rotoroa (not to be confused with Rotorua) remain today. The food eel, freshwater mussels and water birds were important for Māori travelling the Pounamu trails to and from the West Coast.
I hope you enjoyed this blog, and do the Angelus hut walk!
What day is it….. Tuesday? No no no…. Saturday? Not that either…Friday? Yeah! That’s it, Friday! Now what month….
The long slog is over! What with almost 8 weeks at home with my family, things have gotten a bit monotonous. Thankfully when level three hit I was able to see Jasmine, I hadn’t seen her since last December! When I burst into her room the look on her face was priceless, we hugged for ages, cried a bit then did some dancing❤.
B.S.Fs💞
One of the few up sides to isolation is getting lots of much needed rest, even so my hyper active parents seem to always have lots of “great” ideas, for more stuff to do in our already surprisingly busy days! Biking, writing, what next! ” Come on kids lets all go clean the toilet together, it’ll be fun!”.
Aside from all that I have been really enjoying my hula hooping, Acting, and watching the Daily Show with Trevor Noah American politics are entertaining😂. The Daily Show is a hilarious satire on American politics and the world, presented by Trevor Noah a brilliant comedian.
Trevor Noah
Fire Fans🔥
The beautiful Lake Rotoiti!
Making plans
This winter we weren’t sure where we were going to settle down; New Plymouth, Queenstown, Nelson they were all options, then Coronavirus struck, and we decided to stay in Motueka for Isolation. Now we are almost at level two we have made a decision to……(drumroll please)……. Stay in Mot and rent Chrissy’s house for the winter!
I am personally pleased with this decision as in New Plymouth I don’t know anybody. Queenstown’s lovely but to cold for little Dylan daisy here. Nelson would be nice and we might have gotten some property there if Covid 19 wasn’t such a meany, but Mot is close enough (and we have a house!).
Things to look forwards to
A couple of things I am looking forwards to this winter are starting my classes again, and trying out high school! My classes this winter will be; Dance, singing, martial arts & Drama. I’m eminently excited for dance as Jasmine and I are going to attend private contemporary & ballet classes together!
High school, Wow, High school!? It seems a bit crazy, me going to Mot high. I’ve Quizzed my friends who go there heaps, about all the details from the social dynamics to the academical side. It seems one must wear their skirt above their knees if they want to be accepted! And that you must tuck your shirt in if you want to be cool! It sounds daunting to say the least, but I am prepared! I can only go for one term as I want to keep my homeschool exemption, and I don’t have to go at all if it turns out to be lousy, but I want to try High School!
Always listen to Baby Yoda!
Today Mum and I are going on a girls date, Opshops here We come!!! I hope you enjoyed this post and remember, Wash Your Hands!
“You bl**dy b*ch!” THUMP ” I hate you!” BASH ” You’re an arsehole!” THUD “Muuuuuuuuuum Dallas hit me!!!!” “Noooooooo Jaz hit meeeee!”
3 weeks, 1 day, 14 hours, 4 minutes, and counting, of isolation with my 7 year old twin brothers, where did they even learn those words? Certainly not from me:). Sometimes I wonder does Jaz’s voice sound like a chainsaw or is it just me? Nah that’s the isolation talking, as annoying as they are I do still love them with all my heart ❤.
Playing our awesome new board game Azul.
In the few days before lockdown we had a new plan every hour as we struggled to decide what to do, and where to go for the 4 week isolation. Our friend Chrissy and her daughter Jasmine my B.S.F (best sister forever) moved in with her partner, so we ended up living in her big beautiful farm house, in the countryside of Motueka!
My days are surprisingly busy! school work, hula hooping; my new passion, baking, reading, and training for next years shows. We already have the plot and most of the sound track for the circus show! This years magic show is martial arts themed, so lots of training for Dad and I. Doing a no handed cartwheel is harder than it looks!
One night we went camping…. in our backyard! Its a super fun thing to do as you can’t actually go camping, I made damper, which we cooked on the fire then stuffed with butter, jam, and nutella. To me nothing spells camping like hot nutella and butter dripping down your fingers, and the blasting heat from the fire on your face.
Harry potter by the fire.
I have actually been doing a couple of online courses, hula hooping and acting. Online courses are a great thing to do to fill your day and learn new things. Here is the link to the hula hoop courses https://autumnflow.com/, its perfect if your a beginner, intermediate or advanced.
Yesterday we made some funny videos of us being weird😂.
Isolation Meerkats😁
Based on a true story🍷😂
Saying goodbye to our shows is always a momentous occasion, with flowers and a beautiful river. This time was especially sad, as we didn’t even get to finish the season properly. Last season’s show’s were awesome, next season’s show’s will be even better! I would like to say a big thank you to my magnificent family for performing such an amazing show❤.
I hope you enjoyed this blog! Remember Stay calm, Stay safe and Stay home.
I have republished this with some more content, enjoy!
March 17 2020
Covid 19 was just starting to be taken seriously, with only a few confirmed cases in NZ.
Late monday night after a day of packing and driving, we arrived at Yeti tours in Ohakune bubbling with excitement. The next morning we finished packing our gear into big blue waterproof barrels, we loaded them and the canoes onto the trailer. My family and our friends Ella, Jordan, Julie and the three frenchies Bebe, Aurian and Matio clambered into the van with Gavin the owner of Yeti tours as our driver.
Ready to row.🛶
Two hours and a coffee stop later we disembarked at our destination, Whakahoro. Three days and 88 kms of river stretched ahead of us. Gavin suggested waiting till tomorrow as the head winds were raging, but anticipation made us foolhardy so gleefully we set out in our canadian canoes down the Whanganui river.
The beautiful Whanganui river from Dad and Jaz’s boat.
Ella, Jordan and I shared a three seater canoe, us girls all being the same age meant there was bound to be some disagreements. Mum came up with a code name for when things got heated. Hairy balls! Every now and then she would paddle up to our canoe and shout out “HAIRY BALLS OR HAPPY DAYS?!”Thankfully most of the time it was happy days!
Happy days!
All along the rocky cliff sides that walled the river highway, radiant Rata, Rewarewa and Rimu blossom alongside cool Kamahi and proud punga, while friendly tree ferns grow as epiphytes on towering Tawa. The lazy river did little to help us with our 6-8 hours of paddling every day, we had to paddle the whole way. The occasional rapid kept things exciting as Julie and Bebe discovered when they found themselves upside down in the river, more fun for us then it was for them! Unfortunately because of our late departure and strong headwinds we only made it two thirds of the way, and had to stop at Ohauora campsite instead of John Coull, this put us two hours behind each day for the rest of the trip.
Each evening we arrived late, exhausted and hungry, but there was our camp to set up, dinner to cook and our big blue barrels to lug up the hill.
On the second evening a few of us walked the hour and a half round trip to the Bridge to Nowhere. It was so eerie to come round a corner and see a serene concrete bridge, surrounded by native bush in the middle of nowhere!
The Bridge to Nowhere.
On the last day the 50/50 rapids weighed heavily on my mind, 50% of people stay dry and 50% of people fall out. Us girls made it through! Bebe and Julie weren’t so lucky….again😂.
March 20 2020
We emerged back into civilization ready for a pumping weekend at the fair!
Then we got the news. The Extravaganza had been canceled for the rest of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic. What were we going to do? Where were we going to go? In true gypsy style we organized an impromptu end of season party to say goodbye to everyone. Now we are in lockdown in a house in Motueka.
Everything is going to be alright.
I wrote this for a travel writing competition, I hope you enjoyed it!
Sapphire springs is a holiday park with awesome thermal pools. We go there every year and stay for the whole week, soaking and playing in the pools.There are two large spa pools under a wooden roof, a small shallow warm pool for toddlers, a warm medium sized pool that’s not to hot and not to cold, and a massive cooler pool with a metal slide and a jumping platform. This is your perfect summer vacation spot!
There’s even a shop at the main desk that sells ice blocks. So you can grab an ice block on your way to the pools, soak and play for a while then on your way back you can jump on the trampoline or play mini golf (for free). At the pools there’s a sheltered area with barbecues and tables, were you can cook dinner while the kids play on the small playground or in the pools. I definitely suggest visiting Sapphire springs.
Tongaporutu/The Three Sisters
The Three Sisters!
At the Tongaporutu reserve are stunning rock formations called the ‘Three Sisters’ and rightly so. The Three Sisters stand strong and tall looking out to sea, their green bushy hair rustling in the wind. This is another one of our yearly places to stay and play for the week. Dad always goes fishing here but somehow never ever catches anything😂.
Karangahake Windows Walk
Karangahake Gorge Windows Walk is in the heart of the old historic gold mining area in Waihi. An easy 2k round walk through exciting tunnels, and the amazing Karangahake Gorge. I would suggest bringing a torch with you to explore some of the darker tunnels. We went there a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, then came back this year equipped with torch’s and explored those darker tunnels, we had lots of fun😊. It’s great walk to do with the family!
These are some of my favorite places in the North Island! I hope you found this helpful😁.
At the moment we are in Whitianga, having a holiday with our auntie and uncle and their kids, the lovely Samantha (5) and Dominic (8). It has been pretty crazy as my bro’s get along very well with Dominic, I shall be deaf by the time we leave! Enjoy the new post❤.
Whitianga bike park
The Whitianga bike park is a great place to visit, if your into biking or not. It has many things to do, other than biking such as, Frisbee, hopscotch, volley ball, pétanque, walking tracks, and more. It’s a bit run down but still enjoyable!
Mum Woo-ta-whooping in the background😂.
Whitianga beach
Yellow sand⛱, clear blue ocean🌊, a light breeze = Summer☀. This is your perfect summer vacation spot! Whitianga is a town on the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula New Zealand. Whitianga was a timber port. Ships from Europe sailed in to Whitianga’s deep-water harbor to load up with valuable kauri. Today, the town depends on fishing, farming and tourism for its prosperity.
there’s that awful noise!😬😂
The Harbor House Cafe
If your looking for a quaint waterside cafe in Whitianga, The Harbor House Cafe is your place! With raw slices, large portions and friendly staff, it is a lovely cafe to visit for breakfast, lunch or brunch.
I hope you found this new blog helpful, even though its a bit late😁.
