Splore starts tomorrow! Splore is a 3-day music and art astival at Tapapakanga Regional Park on the outskirts of Auckland, New Zealand. Originally held every two years, last year, Splore decided to become an annual event. As Splore also happens to land on The Koala’s birthday, we’ve pretty much got his birthday party sorted for all of time.

Splore is now celebrating its 11th festival and this year will be The Koala and my 7th Splore. They have a great sustainable green ethos and the arty atmosphere and beachy location make it unique. You can float in the sea or lie on the beach while watching international and kiwi artists on the main stage. Up on the hills and scattered throughout the site are never seen before artworks to keen you entertained and amused. There are various workshops and markets if you want to broaden your mind or wardrobe. If you like music, art and the beach, this is a winner.

 Home

The theme this year’s theme is “Home”. Home isn’t a place, it is where the heart is and our camp is dressing up as a motley crew of nomads. Think traveling circus and carnival misfits. I’m looking forward to clowns, mimes, ringmasters, show girls, fortune tellers and general weird carnies. I’ll be a mime/clown and The Koala will be a miscellaneous carny. We’re trying to convince the boys to go as bearded ladies or strong men, but they’re not convinced for some reason.

The other day I had a practice run of my costume and took some selfies. As part of my #YearOfFirsts, I want to be more comfortable in front of the camera. Number 12: Take a photo of myself that I am happy with.

Here are a couple of my favourite shots.

Don’t pack your lunch

When The Koala and I first started dating, we went Splore by ourselves. We brought our own food but without refrigeration or kitchen facilities in the heat of summer, the results were disgusting. Sweaty cheese, slimy ham and brown avocado anyone? No?

Luckily the food at Splore is amazing with many different foods represented to cater for all moods and diets. Last year I compiled a guide to Splore food and this year I thought I would do the same again. Here are the names of the vendors, the types of diets and tastes they cater to and what you might expect to eat.

A guide to Splore food

Aloisio Brazilian BBQ

Serving free range Brazilian-style BBQ with gluten free options.
Barbecued chorizo, chicken, pork, beef served with rice and vinaigrette.
Pretty self explanatory, I ate some of their food and blogged about this time last year here. 
http://www.bbqcatering.co.nz

Bird On A Wire

Healthy, free range, real food.
Chicken rolls and salads. Vegetarian options available.
Laneway Festival sample menu: Jamaican Jerk Chicken Roll, Curried kumara green salad with roasted almonds, feta, parsley and orange vinaigrette (add chicken or black pepper tofu)
http://www.birdonawire.co.nz

Cube Kitchen

Health conscious foodies. Sustainable, local, organic and free range.
Serving rather fancy healthy food.
Wanderlust Festival sample menu: Halloumi Cigar, mint infused Watermelon, super grain salad, Raw organic energy Cubes, Acai Blueberry cereal breakfast bowl, Rosemary polenta chips, Pumpkin& Chia seeds served with fresh Tomato salsa.
http://www.cubekitchen.co.nz

Dragonfired

Catering to Pizza lovers
Pizzas and Calzones made to order. Organic base, mozzarella with pepperoni. Calzone with mozzarella cheese, olives and caramelised onions.
http://dragonfired.co.nz

Food Truck Garage

Health conscious, free range fast food with a healthy twist.
Serving salads and gourmet hot dogs. Sunriser Dog: Free-range pork frankfurter with spinach, red cabbage, sunflower seeds, avocado on a seeded spelt bun.
http://foodtruckgarage.co.nz

 

Langos Hungarian fried bread puffs

A couple of my friends enjoying Langos at Splore.

Deep fried bread with tasty toppings. Vegetarian options.
Hungarian fried bread puff with Pesto tomato and feta
Langos Facebook page

Loco Mexicano

Mexican street food
Tacos, chili fries and nachos. Sample menu: Chicken tacos with salad, salsa, cheese and lemon aioli, Chili fries with beef chili, salsa, sour cream and guacamole.
Loco Mexicano Facebook page

The Roaming Dive

Diner food on the go.
Sliders, Po’Boys and hand cut fries. Sample menu: Pork belly po’ boy, Parmesan fries, Buffalo chicken sliders, Vege slider with roasted beetroot aioli, onion steak, halloumi frieds and slaw
http://theroamingdive.co.nz

Other vendors include:

• Vegepower
• Hangry Food
• Raptor
• Nonnas Piadias Italian Street Food

Refreshments and sweets

Nice Blocks

Organic, fair trade and vegan ice blocks.
Serving ice blocks in yummy flavours such as feijoa, vanilla bean, natural cola, and apple mango.
http://niceblocks.co.nz

Baron Hasselhoff’s

Gluten free sweets with vegan and organic options.
“Gold Top”, Rosemary Sea Salt Caramel and Beetroot, Chocolate and Hazelnut torte.
Baron Hasselhoff’s Facebook page
http://www.baronhasselhoffs.co.nz

Cocoloco

100% pure coconut water served in a coconut
http://cocoloco.co.nz/home

The Beverage Boy

Fresh smoothies and juices – made to order
http://www.thebeverageboy.co.nz

Booze

Hallertau Brewery is the official beer sponsor for Splore. Hallertau is a craft beer brewery based out in Riverhead. With an onsite restaurant serving sophisticated food, I think it’s safe to say that  Hallertau are foodies too.
http://www.hallertau.co.nz

Keep cup

Keep an eye out for Splore branded reusable cups this year. Keep your cup with you although you might find that if you put your cups down, little fairies might come along squirrel them away. The keep cups minimise waste at the festival and are great souvenirs. The Koala and I have many Splore cups at home from over the years.

I wish they would include some kind of drill hole so it is easy to carry the cup around with you all festival. I usually end up buying about 10 cups over the festival because they are so easy to lose.

Splore runs from Friday 20 February to Sunday 22 February 2015.

* Photo credits to respective vendors and presented under fair use for review/guide purposes.