Erupt Lake Taupo Festival

Our free weekend in Taupo at the festival was GREAT! We headed out of Auckland at 2:30 on Friday so we could make it down there for the first show and beat the traffic. We stayed at the Miro's Motel which is close to the town centre as well as the lake. The place was very nice and we had breakfast included which was brought to our rooms both mornings. In addition to the shows, we walked around the town and Erin found an All Blacks sweatshirt which she quickly snatched up so she will have something to wear when we go to the game in June. On our way out of town we stopped at Craters of the Moon which is a really neat park which has all this geothermal activity (Don't worry the last eruption here was in 2002 and we made it through our visit).




Here's a summary of the shows that we saw:

Hotel: This was play that brings the audience in to experience what goes on behind the closed door of Hotel Room 22. There were only 13 of us in the audience and we were like flies on the wall as we watched the lives of different people and how they used/stayed in the hotel room. We both loved this show and would see it again in a heartbeat.


The Songs of Kurt Weill: This was a cabaret which brought to life the songs of German born Kurt Weill and murder, prostitution, and political corruption. The band and singer were amazing and they were so skills in the various instruments that they played. It was a very entertaining show. We sat at a table for this show and met 4 individuals who have retired in Taupo. They were great to talk with and were very interested in our travels, etc.


Arte Kanela: This was a flamenco musical group from Australia which had 2 dancers, 2 musicians, and a singer. The dancing skills that both the male and female dancers had were absolutely unbelievable. The combination of the Spanish music and dancing resulted in a standing ovation at the end.


Moana and The Tribe: A band which pull together traditional and contemporary Maori, soul, reggae, and classical music along with moving images of the New Zealand landscape. The music was very soothing and we purchased their newest CD at the end of the show which is called "Wha".