Cromwell

The tent was down on Sunday afternoon, and Monday was spent wandering through the tourist centre of Queenstown. Luke and I had a special meal out by the water. It was a treat to be out and about. We stopped into a little chocolate cafe on the waterfront where we were gifted with free coffees! The girl behind the counter recognised us from the show, and had loved the performance.

Luke and I sat at our outdoor table and watched the goings on of the normal world. A busker played a lively guitar on the corner and joggers periodically flew by, involved only in their own steps and the headphones in their ears. We placed our empty coffee mugs down on the rickety wooden table turned to make our way back to the circus.

Moving day came around again so quickly. This week, I was to be in the first round of people at the next lot. They always sent one person ahead to wait for everyone else, so that they could have the trucks watched while they do the second and third trips. David had kindly offered an accommodation swap for a few weeks so that Luke and I could have a caravan.. so we moved all our gear and away I went.

An hour later, surrounded by forested mountainous ranges and sparkling blue water we circled up to pitch our stand. Cromwell was the next stop, an odd little town by the river with a stubbornly quiet population. It is a little bit magic watching the circus roll into town. A convoy of red and yellow trucks and vans lumbering through the town centre. Children wave and cars toot their horns.. that's right folks! The Circus is in town!

Arrival in Queenstown

With a bright teal green caravan lumbering along behind us we started our journey over the pass to Queenstown. The convoy of trucks and trailers was taken in three trips as we only had two drivers licenced for the larger vehicles. I was in the third convoy with Luke, Mike and Briar.
It had been a long day of rolling tent skins onto trailers and locking down caravans for travel. It had been hot, and with the Chuck wagon (our food caravan) packed down, there was nothing available to eat. We traveled in silence. We were all too tired and hungry to engage in conversation. The scenery was stunning for the entirety of the journey, this was enough to occupy our thoughts for the duration.

Just after 5pm we rolled into the new lot. We disembarked the vehicles and forced ourselves into action. Everyone was carefully arranging the caravans out ready to encircle the big top. We started the task of pitching the pre-tent (our dining room) and setting up the chuck wagon. The main big top wouldn't go up until the morning, but a few essentials had to be set… Tomorrow promised to be a huge day.