The following morning, energised by my luge victory, we headed to the Redwood Forest to enjoy the canopy walk, where we learned lots of things about trees & ferns which I have already forgotten but it was good all the same. There was no time to hang around though – we had places to go. We were going to a music festival! I say festival – well in fairness the leaflet I read called it a festival. I guess that is what it started out as but due to the threat of rain, they had changed the event from all day to just evening & moved it to an inside venue at a hotel, making it more of an event I would say. I know all this because I emailed ‘Karin’ the organiser who was “super excited” we were coming -she had obviously never met us. The original Venue was at a glass sculpture park about 12km outside of Taupo so we called in to visit it as we passed. All around the gardens there were some lovely glass pieces displayed & Mr L, who has an Interest in glass sculptures, really enjoyed it. It would have made a great venue for a festival, with tiered seating & intimate surroundings. We carried on our journey to Taupo where, as luck would have it, there was a campsite right next door to the new venue, so en route we did a reckie to check it out. It was like a ghost town. The hotel reception was locked & there was not a soul about. We drove to the campsite, checked in & had a swim in the pool, before getting ready. As we headed out, expectations were pretty low, so we were pleased that when we turned the corner, we could see lights on, cars parked outside & people milling around. As we entered the venue, the first band were already playing. I introduced myself to Karin who was still ‘super excited’. It's hard to describe the venue. It had a sort of Wild West façade outside and inside a bit like a huge social club, where the vast majority of other gig attendees were hippies. The bar had mini bottles of fizz & pale ale so smiles all around. We got some chairs & sat to the side as the 40 odd crowd were sitting at tables talking, whereas we wanted to actually listen to the music. On a trip to the loo I was fascinated by some graffiti that proclaimed ‘I love 1814 forever’. Wow I thought that must have been a fascinating year in history until I discovered later it's the name of a band. Anyway I digress. There were 6 bands altogether- what I would describe as mixed ability. During one performance I became distracted (what I really mean is irritated) by a young moody looking teenager playing pool. The problem was the table was just to the side of the stage so you couldn't watch the band without seeing him just hitting the balls around the table. I spotted Karin & mentioned that it was distracting. Next thing I know Karin swept across the room, with her skirt swirling and swishing as she went, to talk to the boy. I was expecting a quick word & that would be that. What I hadn't expected was seeing her, & then her partner hugging & kissing the boy. It was Karins son. She was no longer super excited and we were now persona non grata. As usual they saved the best for last & the final two bands made the evening. We left happy & headed back to the campsite, it was after all, 11pm!
Thursday, 30 March 2017
I can hear music, sweet sweet music...
It wasn't until our third day in Rotorua that we actually saw the place. We had spent our time reading, relaxing in the sunshine or sleeping at the quiet, comfortable campsite we had found just on the edge of town. By then we were ready to adventure out and explore. You do however, need to be prepared for the smell. The air in & around Rotorua is described as ‘sulphur rich’, which translates as strong eggy stink, caused by the hot springs, mud pools and geysers, which is where we were headed. Te Puia describes itself as ‘one of the worlds most beautiful & exciting geothermal areas’. As I've never been to another geothermal area I can't possibly comment on this claim, but it was fascinating watching the mud pools bubble & see the geysers erupt – not quite the 30 meters promised but I'm nitpicking now. Rotorua is also famous for offering ‘thrill seekers’ plenty of options – white-water rafting, off-road dirt tours & extreme mountain biking. We weren't seeking any of these thrills. Instead we headed to the luge track, where we got to hurtle down tracks on a plastic go-cart, taking corners at crazy speeds, braking only when necessary. And we loved it! It would have been even better if the kids were with us – especially A as he is so competitive & Mr L is not, which kind of takes the fun out of beating him – which I did every time!!
The following morning, energised by my luge victory, we headed to the Redwood Forest to enjoy the canopy walk, where we learned lots of things about trees & ferns which I have already forgotten but it was good all the same. There was no time to hang around though – we had places to go. We were going to a music festival! I say festival – well in fairness the leaflet I read called it a festival. I guess that is what it started out as but due to the threat of rain, they had changed the event from all day to just evening & moved it to an inside venue at a hotel, making it more of an event I would say. I know all this because I emailed ‘Karin’ the organiser who was “super excited” we were coming -she had obviously never met us. The original Venue was at a glass sculpture park about 12km outside of Taupo so we called in to visit it as we passed. All around the gardens there were some lovely glass pieces displayed & Mr L, who has an Interest in glass sculptures, really enjoyed it. It would have made a great venue for a festival, with tiered seating & intimate surroundings. We carried on our journey to Taupo where, as luck would have it, there was a campsite right next door to the new venue, so en route we did a reckie to check it out. It was like a ghost town. The hotel reception was locked & there was not a soul about. We drove to the campsite, checked in & had a swim in the pool, before getting ready. As we headed out, expectations were pretty low, so we were pleased that when we turned the corner, we could see lights on, cars parked outside & people milling around. As we entered the venue, the first band were already playing. I introduced myself to Karin who was still ‘super excited’. It's hard to describe the venue. It had a sort of Wild West façade outside and inside a bit like a huge social club, where the vast majority of other gig attendees were hippies. The bar had mini bottles of fizz & pale ale so smiles all around. We got some chairs & sat to the side as the 40 odd crowd were sitting at tables talking, whereas we wanted to actually listen to the music. On a trip to the loo I was fascinated by some graffiti that proclaimed ‘I love 1814 forever’. Wow I thought that must have been a fascinating year in history until I discovered later it's the name of a band. Anyway I digress. There were 6 bands altogether- what I would describe as mixed ability. During one performance I became distracted (what I really mean is irritated) by a young moody looking teenager playing pool. The problem was the table was just to the side of the stage so you couldn't watch the band without seeing him just hitting the balls around the table. I spotted Karin & mentioned that it was distracting. Next thing I know Karin swept across the room, with her skirt swirling and swishing as she went, to talk to the boy. I was expecting a quick word & that would be that. What I hadn't expected was seeing her, & then her partner hugging & kissing the boy. It was Karins son. She was no longer super excited and we were now persona non grata. As usual they saved the best for last & the final two bands made the evening. We left happy & headed back to the campsite, it was after all, 11pm!
The following morning, energised by my luge victory, we headed to the Redwood Forest to enjoy the canopy walk, where we learned lots of things about trees & ferns which I have already forgotten but it was good all the same. There was no time to hang around though – we had places to go. We were going to a music festival! I say festival – well in fairness the leaflet I read called it a festival. I guess that is what it started out as but due to the threat of rain, they had changed the event from all day to just evening & moved it to an inside venue at a hotel, making it more of an event I would say. I know all this because I emailed ‘Karin’ the organiser who was “super excited” we were coming -she had obviously never met us. The original Venue was at a glass sculpture park about 12km outside of Taupo so we called in to visit it as we passed. All around the gardens there were some lovely glass pieces displayed & Mr L, who has an Interest in glass sculptures, really enjoyed it. It would have made a great venue for a festival, with tiered seating & intimate surroundings. We carried on our journey to Taupo where, as luck would have it, there was a campsite right next door to the new venue, so en route we did a reckie to check it out. It was like a ghost town. The hotel reception was locked & there was not a soul about. We drove to the campsite, checked in & had a swim in the pool, before getting ready. As we headed out, expectations were pretty low, so we were pleased that when we turned the corner, we could see lights on, cars parked outside & people milling around. As we entered the venue, the first band were already playing. I introduced myself to Karin who was still ‘super excited’. It's hard to describe the venue. It had a sort of Wild West façade outside and inside a bit like a huge social club, where the vast majority of other gig attendees were hippies. The bar had mini bottles of fizz & pale ale so smiles all around. We got some chairs & sat to the side as the 40 odd crowd were sitting at tables talking, whereas we wanted to actually listen to the music. On a trip to the loo I was fascinated by some graffiti that proclaimed ‘I love 1814 forever’. Wow I thought that must have been a fascinating year in history until I discovered later it's the name of a band. Anyway I digress. There were 6 bands altogether- what I would describe as mixed ability. During one performance I became distracted (what I really mean is irritated) by a young moody looking teenager playing pool. The problem was the table was just to the side of the stage so you couldn't watch the band without seeing him just hitting the balls around the table. I spotted Karin & mentioned that it was distracting. Next thing I know Karin swept across the room, with her skirt swirling and swishing as she went, to talk to the boy. I was expecting a quick word & that would be that. What I hadn't expected was seeing her, & then her partner hugging & kissing the boy. It was Karins son. She was no longer super excited and we were now persona non grata. As usual they saved the best for last & the final two bands made the evening. We left happy & headed back to the campsite, it was after all, 11pm!
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