Tag Archives: The gypsy bakers

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Oamaru

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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😘.

Love Dylan Daisy❤

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Lower Hutt

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The weekend at Lower Hutt exceeded our expectations, so many happy lovely people visited the Extravaganza including my Auntie Robin and my two cousins Ijann and Deleshia. I however was not happy and lovely, I was overwhelmed with work in the cafe and all the shows I do. Gloomily I shut myself away in the evenings, too peopled out to socialize.

This weeks quality baking!

Monday morning we grumped our way to Kaitoki camp ground where Mum made us a party to cheer us up. Nothing like food, music and chocolate milk to make you feel good!

I was feeling great again, until….. We got the dreadful phone message. I sank right back down into the black hole. Cupa Dupa was cancelled due to New Zealand being on high alert since the terror attacks at the Christchurch Mosque! This is not how New Zealand should be reacting to terror attacks, we should stand together and celebrate peace, what Cupa Dupa’s all about! I had been sooo looking forward to partying the night away and staying up to Midnight 2 nights in a row.

The weather seemed to agree with our mood. Down came the rain! Kaitoke is the site where Rivendell from the Lord of the rings movie was filmed. We always visit it when we come this way. I’m nearly as tall as Gandalf now!

Next year I’ll be looking down on you Gandalf!

Wednesday night saw us at the Sushi train on Cuba street.

Thursday. City day!! We’d planed this one for weeks! We parked the car at Te papa and while Dad and the boys went to the toy shop, Mum and I went make up shopping!! It was an early 13th birthday present. Now I don’t have to borrow Mum’s make up for my shows!

Next was the long anticipated “High tea”! We chose the most fancy one in Wellington at the Hippopotamus hotel. We sank into the baroque quaint soft chairs and chose our teas from the many exotic flavors. I had “Monks blend” and Mum had Earl grey blue flower. Once a Gypsy always a Gypsy, shoes were too uncomfortable for us, we secretly slipped them off. Petite delicate morsels arrived on a beautiful three tiered china plate. We each chose an “Elegant high tea” meaning Mum got two glasses of bubbly!

To top it all off, that night Mum, Dad and I went to see “The goblin market” at the Hannah playhouse in downtown Wellington. It was Circus theater by NZ based “Dust Palace”. The performance was amazing, though a little bit adult themed, just within the bounds of appropriate for me. The story was a little bit confusing but super inspiring.

 

What a roller coaster of a week! Tomorrow setup, this weekend Petone foreshore.

Bye!

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Whanganui

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We got the news mid afternoon on Friday during setup. 50 Muslim people were shot dead while inn their mosque, their peaceful place. Everyone was mourning with Christchurch and the Muslim community. For me at first it was kind of surreal, something that would happen in a faraway country, not here.

It was a strange weekend, we seemed to carry on as normal. Mels was away so on Saturday it was just Dan and I in the Cafe. I was so busy I didn’t get much time to think about it all, especially as straight after work we went go-carting! It was my first ever time go-carting and although I was a little scared at first, I loved it!

I managed to make time to bake these, guaranteed to sell out!

On Sunday we donated all our money from the Circus show and Magic show to the families of the victims of the massacre.

Life go’s on.

Monday we had a quick play at the pool, then Mum and I skedaddled off to Palmerston North for some last minute crystal shopping before heading all the way to Castle point.

We spent two full days schooling, playing, roaming the beaches and visiting interesting landmarks. So much for chilling out! It did feel good for our souls though and gave us some time to think about how grateful we are for our lives.

Wednesday afternoon after schooling we happily made our way back to civilization in Masterton. Straight to Nana and Pa’s  to chill out before having a lovely dinner(thanks Nana) with my Nana, Pa, Auntie Carolyn, Uncle Des, and my boisterous family. Its funny because we hardly ever use knives and forks, especially when it’s finger food; so it’s always a bit challenging to sit up straight and use a knife and fork properly when we have dinner with our rellys!

“Ahhhh”,”Mmmm”,Sooo relaxing. One of the highlights of visiting Nana and Pa’s is their bath! Chucking my homemade bath-bomb along with some epsom salts, I slipped into the hot water “Ahhhhhh”. For us baths are a luxury!

Thursday more schooling then it was time for book shopping/ op shopping! Books, books, books, one of my lifeblood’s vital ingredients, after dancing. I also scored an awesome pair of high heels!

That night we arrived late (as usual) onto the grounds, staying up even later playing with the gypsy kids! Tomorrow setup, this weekend Lower hut. Bye!

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Tauranga to New Plymouth

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Happy birthday Riley!  “Wow!”, “Incredible!”, “Delicious!”. The Gypsy Bakers surprise was revealed! Lettie and I put a lot of effort into baking and decorating Riley’s 11th birthday Pac-man cake, He loved it!

Set up on Friday and trading on Saturday was a little bit tricky as Mum was in Queenstown M.C.ing Miss pole dance N.Z.  Dad and I managed beautifully. Luckily Mum came back Saturday night and everything was back to normal. Our new grounds at the Tauranga racecourse were good for us, hot , sunny and busy.

Monday we pit-stopped at Maclaren falls for a quick freezing cold dip in the waterfall then continued on to Little Waipa. Little Waipa is a lovely camping spot next to the very polluted  Waikato river (thanks a lot dairy farmers!). Jema, my Chihuahua casually wandered past our neighbors bus, an enraged little man leapt out shouting abuse about dogs having to be on leashes. After a moments stunned silence Mum let rip(not farting). That little man was barking up the wrong tree/Mum.

School work done, we quickly moved on to Cambridge, leaving our truck at a safe park over property(P.O.P) while we drove our car all the way to Auckland to see… Cirque du soleil’s new show KOOZA! Mind-blowing, fantastic, dramatic, hilarious, and overall inspiring! That was my second time going to Cirque du soliel and it was better than ever. We got home at 1am and collapsed into bed.

The next morning we hauled to Tongaparutu, an hour away from New Plymouth, where the boys carried out their need to fish. Its beautiful and wild there, a great place to rest and refresh the soul. Tiwai and Lettie arrived Thursday and we romped and roamed the beaches, wildings in the wilderness.

Fish for dinner!

Time to set up in New Plymouth in the pouring rain, us kids snuggled down to watch movies for the day, bliss! Arrrrggggg!!!! A scream bought us scrambling down to the kitchen, Mum had chopped the tip of her finger off making pumpkin soup for us. It turned out she was crying because she couldn’t go pole dancing at the local studio, poor Mummy.

It was a long, grueling, loud three day weekend and we were pleased to leave on Tuesday morning. After stopping in at J-car for new remote control cars and a quick Op shop score, we lunched at Loving Hut, My worst nightmare! Mum and Dad are trying to open our minds to new, healthy(disgusting)foods.

That evening we snuggled down at Paratu rock centennial park. The huge rock loomed above us and I knew that tomorrow Dad would make us climb it. Sure enough Wednesday morning after school work, up we went in the wind and rain, vertigo almost swept me over the cliff, but the view was worth it even though it was shrouded in fog.

Into the car we tumbled and off to the New Plymouth Museum we went to see the new Illusion exhibition.

That night I made pancakes for dinner, a first! Pancakes for dinner I mean.

Thursday morning we headed off for Whanganui with a stop off at Kaupokanui for some schoolwork and fishing. We eased into the Whanganui  grounds late that night. Wow! That was a crazy busy few weeks, calm down Mum and Dad! I think we need some chill-out time. Tomorrow setup, this weekend Whanganui.

Bye!

 

 

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Dunedin

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“Crunch! Crash! Kaboom!” Ok I am exaggerating a bit but there was definitely a crunch involved when Dad backed into a bus on George street, one of the busiest streets in Dunedin! When he was backing into a car park a bus nosed in right behind him. He backed up and suddenly smashed into a massive bus, crushing the button that opens the doors. But it gets worse, with the doors stuck open the bus couldn’t  drive so it was stuck in the middle of the road on George at 3 o’clock, end of school time in a university city! Intense right?! And our new car was damaged! Oh well, its just life!

A while ago I came up with an idea for a business and now it shall be brought to life! The Gypsy bakers! Lettie and I baked a scrumptious carrot cake ready to sell on Saturday. As part of my schooling I worked out the cost of making a carrot cake. Believe it or not its $20 including icing.

At 7.30 pm Friday night a T.V crew came from the Project, channel 3, to film the Extravaganza in action for 15 seconds. It seems like a short amount of time but when your doing it it feels even shorter! 30 minutes of preparation, 15 seconds live and then it was over as fast as it began.

The weekend was Labour weekend so we had a three day fair with nice unremarkable weather. All in all the weekend was better than last year. The Gypsy bakers was a stunning success, we completely sold out. As tradition goes Jonas put on a cheese fondue for all the Gypsies. Yum yum!

Don’t drop it, don’t drop it in!

Tuesday morning Dad was fixing the car so Mum the boys and I hopped into Simone’s bus and wound our way to the quaint charming port town of Port Chalmers. We ate lunch at a cute cafe with Simone, Tiwai and Lettie. It started to drizzle a bit as we climbed the steep streets to get a view of the town. We finally got to the lookout and saw the whole of Port Chalmers spread out in front of us, it was strange watching the modern barges come too and fro while the quaint old town seemed to be stuck in the past (in a good way), full of beautiful old churches and art galleries. I would fully suggest a visit! Then we got a text from Dad saying he had fixed the car and it was time to go. That night we stayed at Saint Kilda again.

In the weekend a guy came to our shop saying he had 6000 crystals and 400 bonsai trees. A bonsai tree is a form of Japanese art; they plant a seed in a small container to produce small trees that mimic the shape and scale of full size trees, creating a mini lifelike landscape.He also gave us his address and said we can visit him when ever we like, after buying over $100 dollars worth of crystals! So Wednesday we navigated the steep roads of Dunedin to the given address. But all we found was a row of rundown flats none of which could possibly hold 6000 crystals let alone 400 Bonsai trees!

After that failed venture we went Op shopping. I absolutely adore Op shopping, you never know what you might find, unfortunately it gives me a terrible headache and makes me starving!   By the time we had visited at least 10 Op shops my head was pounding and my stomach was shouting at the top of it’s lungs! (can a stomach have lungs?). Salvation came when we found the starfish, a lovely cafe on the waterfront. We ate a delicious lunch (even though it was 3 o’clock) and went back home to watch a documentary and chill out.

Thursday morning and as usual we jotted out some school work then hit the road to Invercargill and my Aunt and Uncle, Sheryll and Pete’s house.

We arrived at 4 pm and since I was due to make the boys birthday cake I set to work at once, and kept on working until midnight. I was asleep before I hit the pillow! But the cake was a masterpiece.

All in all it was a pretty unexciting but still fun week. Tomorrow setup for hopefully a sunny weekend in Invercargill. Bye!