Sunday, March 2, 2014

We Went To The Newtown Fair

Kiwis love going to markets and fairs, if you take a look at "Markets and Fairs"; you will find hundreds of upcoming fairs all over the country, from now till December :)

The last time I blog about  New Zealand fair was way back in 2012, Personally, I don't fancy going to a Kiwi fair; they are for the ladies... you do not find high tech toys at fair do you?   ;)

They said the yearly Newtown Fair is the largest in Wellington, it attracted 75,000 visitors last year and they expect MORE this year! I shivers at the thought! I DO NOT like crowds ;)

To avoid the herd and the searing sun, we went late; at 3.30 pm :)

As usual, I try to take as many pictures as I can... taking good shots at fairs are not as simple as you think. Most stall owners do not like you snapping their products, so to get any shots at all, you have to be stealthy (sneaky?); camera (with a wide angle lens) round your neck and snapping away blind is a acquired method ;)


Home made sambal and chutney are popular at fairs!
There are lots of stalls selling hats and sunglasses!


Kids and teenagers are having fun at the fair too, getting your face painted is fun?

 Nice colourful hair and the best seats at the fair :)

"The Amazing Coin Operated Girl", you put a coin ($1 or $2 gold coin) in that hat and like magic she starts to move! Ha ha ha... that was so clever, the last time I look, there must be over a hundred bucks there ;)


Food truck are always popular at fairs, especially when you are serving up the classic Kiwi favorite; the Whitebait Fritters!

Whitebait are little fishies that are collected en masse from NZ rivers, they are eaten whole, fried with a little flour and egg. Whitebait is very much a delicacy and commands high prices to the extent that it is the most costly fish on the market! 

This fritter is not bad,you can actually see a lot of the tiny fish At NZ$5 a fritter,on a slice of bread, you should see the crowd

Fair is also a place where you can try out cooking from other countries :)

This stall is selling Doro Wat, a slow-simmered spicy chicken stew. The stall was operated by staff of The Meeting Tree restaurant, Tory St. The Meeting Tree is Wellington's first Ethiopian restaurant. 

Doro Wat is the national dish of Ethiopia and one of the most famous of all African dishes.Traditionally Doro Wat is served with an Ethiopian flatbread called injera. It’s kind of a spongy pancake made with teff flour (a grain indigenous to the area).

I think the one we got is made of rice flour. At NZ$10 per serving, it was very tasty.


Wellington is a really small city, you bump into friends at the fair :) Michael and Debbie Moon were there.
First time I took a "selfie" at a fair. The lady at the stall told me that "photo NOT allowed!" I told her I am not interested at her cheap sunglasses ;)
Nice young man, a complete stranger; allow me to take a shot of his highly reflective sunglasses :)  Thanks young man!!


Moving and dancing with the band at the fair :)



                We had a good time!  Till the next big fair ;)


All the pictures were shot with my Olympus OM-D E-M5 with a Panasonic Lumix 12-32 zoom.

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