| Love letter to Taranaki and WOMAD... |
| Written by Amy Donohue |
| Monday, 01 March 2010 23:11 |
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Tom Cruise and I have one whole thing in common. I wouldn’t usually admit it. I prefer to distance myself from middle-aged, male, celebrity Scientologists. Me and Tom though, we both love Taranaki. He filmed 'The Last Samurai' there and I saw Fleetwood Mac there. You say tomato, I say tomatah. No matter what our differences, Cruise and I are united on our ghetto love towards the town you can surf and ski in within the same day (both of which, are activities I would avoid with rampant passion). Which is why I am so so SO excited to be going down to the badass Naki again for the upcoming WOMAD festival. Happening over the 12-14 of March, the event combines world music, foreign film, informative workshops and marketplaces (eee!) to make me one happy chappy. It also continues my semi-hippy relationship with Taranaki. I felt like a flower child from the glory days of tie-dye during Fleetwood Mac - Stevie Nicks with her long hair and billowing dresses. Me with, well, my Two Dollar Shop rain poncho thanks to the unexpected rain. But hey, hippies have to stay dry too! And now with my upcoming festival weekend, I am dreaming of flowing floral dresses and lentil soup. After all, WOMAD is a refreshing change from the big, mainstream-centred festivals dominating New Zealand. It’s full of unknown but undoubtedly brilliant artists from all over the globe - like my very own world tour without the crippling debt and jetlag. But this article isn’t so much about the artists (that’s coming soon though!). Instead, Taranaki itself is worth the trip down to WOMAD. So here, in all my semi-eloquent glory, is a LOVE LETTER to Taranaki. My number one brother from another mother. Dear Taranaki! I love you for your delightfully crisp air, your low traffic, your lack of intrusive skyscrapers, your painfully rundown cinemas, and your town named after my favourite variety of bread (Vogeltown!!). I love your quite delightful cafes, your giant Pak N Save, your New World bakery section, your Skittle Cocktails at the Powder Room, your delightful eggs benedict at the museum cafe:  But most of all, for your PANCAKES. Glorious, mascarpone laden saucers of goodness and joy. I love you for being so good I had to go back twice and almost explode myself in my quest to eat as many pancakes as my tummy could handle:  I love your ducks. Your quacky, feathered, swimming-in-pointless-circles ducks who so kindly greeted me when I showed up armed with Budget bread. I love how there are probably more ducks in Taranaki than people. I love how you dunk and dive and attack each other in a fervent attempt to get the last piece of bread:  I love your big green park that is beautiful during the day, with its tall trees and rippling stream. I love to imagine Cruise running around dressed as a samurai in your bushy corners. I love how in the middle of your national park is an ice cream shop, so I never have to be too far away from my next sugar rush. I especially like your beautiful waterfront, where the water stretches out forever and if I don’t get distracted by food or benches or my own laziness, I can walk all day along the sparkling blue sea and ugly black rocks.  I love that in less than two weeks I will be with you once again, my dear Taranaki, for WOMAD. Excited!! |
