Location: Papatowai, The Catlins, New Zealand
Do you want to:
- laugh out loud with joy and surprise like a kid?
- press buttons, turn winders and make magical things happen?
- slap Donald Trump in the face (once you start, it’s hard to stop)?
If you answered yes to any/all of the above, get yourself to The Lost Gypsy Gallery, a repurposed big green bus, chockers with the beautiful innards of artist Blair Somerville’s mind. The automata are gentle and crafty and fantastically funny. The signage and humour littering the walls are fun. Blair himself is onsite, tinkering away, so you can tell him what a genius he is to his face.
Beyond the bus, part with $NZ8.00 to climb into where the real magic happens – the Winding Thoughts Theatre. It’s a wonderland of things moving in the bushes, dark boxes with tales to tell, gurgling shells that make waterfall noises, a piano with unexpected notes and one sombre key. I could go on. But it’s easier to show you a bit of the magic. See below for a very small selection of the full experience.
Travel Mum 
That looks like an awesome attraction. Love stuff like that.
You would absolutely love it, Mon, and so would James. It’s all visual and sound art. The website’s About page is an interesting read with a cute romance story. https://thelostgypsy.com/about/
This looks very cool. Is Blair friends with our mate Bruce, who runs the Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery? They would definitely get on.