Snow Weekend

I am VERY excited about my birthday tomorrow. Not only because I have some mystery parcels & cards to open but we're off on a weekend away to somewhere we've never been to before. Huzzah an adventure into the wilderness!




We're off to a little village on Lake Taupo called Omori and there are Thermal Pools ($5 entry BARGAIN) and we're right by the sunny shores of New Zealand's largest lake. Wonder if we''ll see a taniwha (Maori water monster)! Its going to be a very chilly (-3 low 13 high) but sunny weekend and we plan to hit the National Park for some sledging too. Theres an epic 2m snow base up on those mountains and I want to plough down them on the toboggan. I might let 2 year old Oscar have a turn. Hmm maybe I better get more toboggans.

Famous Spiegeltent Part II - Electric Boogaloo

What a great night! The town of New Plymouth looks spectacular with lots of cool coloured lighting. The old town clock has had a makeover and looks spectacular. You can just see a glimpse of it from my kitchen window at home so it was great to see all the lighting close up.





I JUST made it into the tent. I was faffing round taking photos and the Security Guard said "Lady get a move on we only have room for 320 people and I just let in no 319". Skates were ON!



The inside was cosier than I imagined which was great as Taranaki was hit by snow today and it was only about 2 degrees outside. Lots of pub like booths and a rich velvet striped canopy. I loved the chandelier. It was very hard to take photos without shoving your head in someones way so some limited pics here. The event was for the Taranaki Sing Songwriters club. My brother plays guitar in The Smiles which took to the stage after a few solo artists played for the 1st hour. Got every ones feet tapping warming us up. Good night!

Tonight at the Spiegeltent - The Smiles (-:

So tonight I am ACTUALLY LEAVING THE HOUSE and going to a gig. Yeah! The Taranaki International Arts Festival is on here in New Plymouth which is a Biennial event and there are some fabulous shows on. I'm not a theatre goer so the Cirque de Soleil type show SOAP isn't for me but is world class and getting great reviews. I did check out the NZ Graphic Novel Exhibit & Renegade at Puke Ariki. The Renegade exhibition is showcasing some of Taranaki's top contemporary artists like Michael Smither & John MacLean. There's a huge colourful Smithers cubist sculpture on display. You can buy it for a cool $20k!



But tonight I am off to the world Famous Spiegeltent where the Taranaki Singer Songwriters are putting on a free showcase. While I lived in Melbourne I had many opportunities to check out this cool mobile venue but when its on your doorstep you take it for granter I guess. So its on my doorstep again and this time my brother is playing under its old canvases with The Smiles so off I go. I'll post some pics of the tents inside treasure chest later.