A mixture of incense, fresh hot chips, coffee and dewy grass accents the smell of the fresh, morning air. Dogs can be spotted, like a ‘Where’s Wally’, one after the other, camouflaged in plain sight around caravans and stalls. Everyone’s smiling, calm and ready to take on the day. Can you guess from the descriptions where we might be?
If you guessed, at a Gypsy Fair in Whakatane then you would be correct. What better way to kick off our bus trip to Taupo than in the company of travelling gypsies?
Usually dancers need rest and recovery time between shows. Resting, to us means doing as many outdoor activities as possible in a day off before being inside the theatre again. Thus the gypsy fair enticed us to its field of fun and games for the morning. We found the most adorable puppy I have laid eyes on and it was so difficult not to take him as a stowaway on the bus as we moved from the fair to a strawberry farm a little way down the road.
So now a gypsy fair and a visit to Julians Berry Farm & Café had been ticked off our checklist. Happy tummies full of fresh berry smoothies we then made the final leg of the trip to Taupo stopping at Huka Falls along the way.
Destination reached, maybe it’s time to put our feet up and rest a little? Well yes, but not without involving the alpha company and crew in a barbeque followed by creating our own firework display after sunset on the waterfront.
As we near the middle of our tour, a full day off in Taupo has been greatly welcomed. The sun has shined endlessly throughout the day and our thirst for physio has been quenched with the arrival of Inge, our personal life saver.
Thank you to all those responses to The Secret Life of Pointe Shoes blog concept! I will be posting more on that soon.
Tonia 🙂
tonialooker 
Great photos and blog post Tonia – it looks like Alpha team is having plenty of fun!
Wow, gorgeous pics – so much colour and sunshine! Those striped gypsy beanbags look pretty comfy . . they’re making me want to go and lounge outside in the sun myself, but unfortunately it’s not a day off for me! 😉