Lonely Planet

90 Lonely Planet Traveller October 2017PHOTOGRAPHS: ITHINKSKY/GETTY, COLOSO TECNOPOLIS PARK BUENOS AIRES ARGENTINA/ART INSTALLATION INTERVENTION TO AN ABANDONED ELECTRICAL TOWER BY DOMA COLLECTIVE/WWW.DOMA.TVCOLOSOElectrical towers are often seen aseyesores. In Buenos Aires, the artistcollective Doma turned the concepton its head, transforming one towerinto a robot-like sculpture. The 45-metre Coloso (‘colossus’) was thegroup’s official entry at Tecnópolis2012 – a popular art, technology,and science fair. At night, he comesalive in neon colours, completewith an animated face and a beatingheart. Thanks to a sophisticatedlighting system, Coloso exhibitsa range of moods: sometimes hewinks and his heart seems to grow;other times his smile is practicallydemonic. The 2012 version ofTecnópolis came and went,but Coloso remains a whimsicalfixture on the scene, towering overthe crowds during frequent art,music, and food festivals that takeplace on the grounds.O Tecnópolis is in the suburb of Vicente Lopez; frequent trainsrun from Buenos Aires’s Retiro station.``````WORLD’S STEEPEST STREETFans of optical illusions take note: there’s a350m-long residential street in New Zealand’ssouthern city of Dunedin where, if you snap a photoat an angle, all the houses appear to be sinking intothe ground. That’s because the Guinness WorldRecords calls Baldwin St the world’s steepest drivablestreet, with a gradient of about 35%. Historians sayits steepness was unintentional and merely the resultof a city grid built with little regard for localtopography. Baldwin St is famous across NewZealand for its annual Cadbury Jaffa Race, an eventthat sees some 50,000 coloured ch``````ocolates tumble``````down the hill in the name of charity.O Open to traffic year-round, Baldwin St is about twomiles northeast of Dunedin’s city centre.My secret marvelHOKITIKA WILDFOODSFESTIVALI’m trying not to gag as I put thecockroach into my mouth. It’sartfully presented in a dainty cupof pink jelly, but there’s no hiding that it’sa massive bug. At least it’s not still alive,unlike the grasshoppers at the next stall.The roach kept down – just – what next?Earthworm sushi, pickled huhu grubs,giant chocolate-coated beetles, mountainoysters (rams’ testicles) – the HokitikaWildfoods Festival is not for the faint-hearted or the weak-stomached. I can’tovercome my revulsion enough to swallowa huhu grub. As it is, for the rest ofthe day I’m picking cockroachfeelers from between my teeth.By Tracy WhitmeyO Held annually on the second Saturday in Marchin Hokitika, New Zealand. See wildfoods.co.nz.