Martinborough Fair Weekend 2012

One could say I've been slack, having not posted on *this* blog in 4 days (I've done foodie posts though :D http://hannasedibleescapades.blogspot.co.nz/ ) but actually, I've been out having a life!!  It makes a nice change from sitting at home on the couch all day every day (or in bed all day, when I was really sick) being lonely and bored, looking at "food porn" (hah! my new word for my obsession of browsing for new recipes on pinterest.com) all day.  

So what did I do this weekend?  Well, here's a summary! :)

Friday Night

I made a chicken curry in the crockpot for dinner (I did not write about this on my foodie blog - it was a) out of a packet and b) a bit of an epic fail cos even though it cooked for even longer than the 4 hours it specified, the chicken drumsticks were still pink in the middle so we had to microwave it extra -_- Not cool.) and then mum's friend Cathy (aka my 2nd mum) came over to stay the night... so we could all get up early and go out together on Saturday morning to a fair!


Saturday

The fair officially began at 9am, and it's advised to get there early to get a good car park, and also so you don't miss out on some of the specialties that have a tendency to sell out during the day, like the Swiss rosti and the Indian chickpea curry food stalls.  So we got there bright and early, and there were already lots of people there, which was surprising, but also not really, because it is a SUPER popular fair.  People come from all over the lower North Island to go to this fair.  Thousands of people.  It's massive.

We parked on the front lawn of our friends house (who live really close to the centre of the fair) and walked into town.  As soon as we started hitting the stalls, we were bombarded with amazing food smells, and such a range of amazing things to buy.  We'd barely gone 10 metres and Dad and I had bought some breakfast - Dad had a steak and egg sandwich (they put in like THREE meat patties and an egg!  Talk about value for money!) and I had a bacon and egg sandwich (they piled on the bacon too!  Massive!).  Then we stopped at a honey stall and Mum bought me some manuka honey - its normally super expensive, so to get a kg for about $15 was very reasonable.  And so the carrying of heavy items began!

The stalls are set up around the main square of a town, and so it's very easy to go around in a logical fashion, and you don't miss much.  We headed off to the left, because I knew from a past experience that there was a stall that sold Swiss rosti (like cooked, grated potato - like a plate full of hash brown!) and it was amazing.  So we lined up and got some, and then I turned around and bumped into a very good friend of mine and her boyfriend.  Stopped and chatted with them for a while and then realised my parents and Cathy had continued shopping without me, so raced off to try and find them.

It was like finding a needle in a haystack!  Once separated, it was very hard to work out where we all were.  Text messages were delayed, so ended up having lots of phone calls with each other during the day haha!  Anyway, I ended up finding my Dad, and we hung out for the rest of the day, and Mum and Cathy stuck together for the rest of the day.  It worked out well, because Dad and I were interested in looking at similar stuff, and Mum and Cathy were well matched for their browsing interests too.

So with Dad, I attacked the rest of the fair.  We bought and tried lots of food throughout the day, which we shared.  I'm going to write a list of what we had, because truly it was an international culinary feast!  And we didn't even manage to try the famous Indian chickpea curry that sells out, or baked potatoes, or Mexican burritoes - but what we did eat, we were so full we couldn't have fit it anyway!

• Swiss rosti - potatoey hash browny things!
• Spanish paella - rice dish with seafood (which Dad ate) and chorizo sausage
• American hot cinnamon donuts - amazingly warm, soft, yet crispy and crunchy
• Thai roti with peanut sauce, and chicken skewers
• Polish pierogi - like a little pastry case filled with mashed potato
• Polish sausage - just one bite, and the garlic repeated on me all day!
• NZ bacon & egg sandwich

There was also amazing fresh produce, and I ended up buying a box of cherries, and Dad bought a punnet of blueberries and strawberries - delicious summer fruits!

The other main aspect of this fair, aside from the food, is the crafts and things you can buy.  I loved browsing all the craft stalls with my Dad.  There was everything from jewellery, clothes, hats, ornaments, outdoor stuff, gemstones, wood work, candy, soaps, antiques, paintings, artwork, CDs, leather products, handmade crafts, knitting, crocheting, shoes, and more!  There's so much variety I can't even remember it all!  I've posted a picture below of some of the things I bought.

My loot!

My new dress! #impulsebuy

Because I've been sick, I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to walk around too much, but it was good, I managed to walk heaps, and not get too tired!  Overall I had an amazing day out with my favourite people, and I loved getting out of the house.  This is the first shopping I've done since BEFORE Christmas!  We also ran into SO many people we knew, which was nice to see them and catch up.  I was SO exhausted at the end of the night, my insomnia had absolutely no chance, and I slept like a baby!!

Sunday

Sunday was a day at home, doing bits and pieces around the house.  Dad went out for a motorbike ride (all day!) and Mum and I went over to the other side of the hill for some (more!) shopping.  We really needed to do the groceries, which I was very excited about because it's the first time I've been to the supermarket since I developed a new found passion for cooking.  I was very excited by the prospect of visiting the spice aisle, and spent ages looking at everything.  

We also went to the mall and I got some bits and pieces to send to my friend in America who is doing a project on New Zealand for his high school class, and I also got the latest book from one of my favourite authors, as well as a copy of "The Kings Speech" which we watched that night.  I was terribly impressed.  It's a great movie, if you haven't seen it, you really should!!

Monday

Monday here in New Zealand was Waitangi Day - a public holiday.  It's kind of like our national day.  We spent the day at home, and Dad's friend Keith, and our friends Tracy and Ashleigh came over which was nice.  We had a delicious BBQ lunch (with the most amazing steak I've had in a VERY long time... *drool*) and then Ashleigh and I chillaxed inside, while Dad, Keith and Tracy played music outside.  It was a very chilled out and relaxing day.

So overall, I had a WONDERFUL weekend! :)