Martinbourg Fair

Today we went to the Martinbourgh fair. It is a lovely drive away through a windy mountain pass – similar to hwy 6, without the Wilson River or the big trees. Anyway once there we shopped, watched people and had some coffee.

While I bought several items I love, the ones I feel most compelled to share is my new pair of shoes. Yes to those of you who have been reading this from the beginning, I have found another pair of shoes. My black Mary Jane Docs have finally become uber comfortable after a couple weeks of blisters.

Seems that I'm headed down a similar track here. I can't even take a photo of my new shoes on my feet because I already have hideous blisters – including ones between my toes.

Only good thing I can think of is that these blisters shouldn't interfere with my other shoes... convenient because although barefoot is very acceptable nearly everywhere here, it isn't at work.

Well these are the lovely handmade shoes that have caused my feet to look like either I whipped them with straps or let a small animal attack them mercilessly.

Here these are called Jandals (not flip flops) and are a staple of footware for kiwis. I've never ever owned a pair of flip flops, which might explain my feet's nearly alergic reaction to them. That said, I suspect they'll be like birkenstocks and once they and my feet have broken in they'll become a favorite source of comfort.

 

Cuba Carnival last weekend...

Last weekend, Cuba street had its annual carnival. Cuba street is an area known for fun funky alternative things like piercings, vegan pastries, coffee shops, etc. Reminds me of many areas of Portland, except that it is a Pedestrian mall so the road has been paved over and cars are not allowed. There are some fountains and and mini playground features to entertain people eating and drinking; though often the people watching is more than enough entertainment!

But back to the carnival... the actual fair during the day was alright with all the requisite features.

You have crowds and ample people watching


There is a variety of foods served

Several music stages with 20-30 minutes alloted to each act so you have a lot of variety

Kids dancing is a key ingredient for me and this youngster in particular was entertaining as he ran around with sticks.

My father would have been very disturbed by the number of kids running with eye destroying implements, but I choose amusement as my response – particularly when he saw this young man's juice container sitting between the man's knees. The young boy ran over with this sticks and began to beat the container. While some men would pull away to protect their 'jewels' this chap just laughed and encouraged the kid. It was lovely actually seeing the crowd interact with all the dancing kids.

That said, although the standard food, music, crowds, and kids were present there were a few other things that seemed different. I was particularly struck by the number of people hanging out. They were hanging out in trees

out windows




and even on couches they'd dragged to the middle of the closed off streets!


But the very best part was the night 'illuminated' parade. The streets filled with on lookers and there was a relaxed feeling to it. People were not kept an arms length away, candy was thrown into the crowd, and water and bubbles were also allowed!

It was a Rio theme, so there were many dancers... some very bravely showing quite a bit of skin.

People were exuberant and very glad to be part of the various floats

and I really loved these skeletons on this crazy bike contraption....




There were some other amazing parade moments, but my camera battery unfortunately died halfway through. The Wellington airport sent one of their fire trucks, which was shooting bubble/foam out of a cannon on the back of the truck. Just behind them were dozen of fire poi dancers... a good combo, until the kids start running into the bubbles to play with the fire dancers only feet away. But no one seems to get hurt.

There were also acrobats dangling from mini cranes driving through town, marching bands, and girls in heels playing with soceer balls by kicking them into the crowd!  Flikr has lots of photos under cuba st carinval and cuba street carinval.

Napier - art deco weekend

Napier is a town that was more or less leveled during an earthquake about 75 years ago.

Because nearly all of the downtown area was rebuilt at the same time, it is a time capsule of art deco architecture. In the summer, they put on a huge festival to celebrate the 20's and 30's complete with live music, costumes, and classic cars.


We went up primarily for the dancing, which was really great. There were free concerts and dancing every night at the sound shell




and also live music in the pedestrian mall.


I particularly loved this image of this lady staking her claim for the car parade.. tapping her toes and waving her fingers along with the music until the cars drove by.


There were tons of acts on stage through the afternoons Between performances, music was often played and I loved watching the kids dance to the music. Here are some of my favorite shots.
 


There were classic cars everywhere.

Not only were they part of the very long parade on Saturday


but they also were the only cars allowed to park on the main road and on the beach.




All day long steam tractors pulled wagons of people around.



They also had a mini museum of working steam farm machines on display. They were running all day and late into the night.

More than half the people were in costume. I kept saying to myself “you'd never see this many men in America dressing up” but then again after the sevens I shouldn't be so surprised. Here are some photos from around town as well as the costume competition.











On top of all this there were many airplane displays. Each day there was a mini airshow or two over the town or water. On Sunday everyone gathered for picnics and watched the planes go over head.