30th pictures

Ducks are surprisingly resilient to nasty swamps! Also,I liked this bicycle tree :-)

Wednesday 30th September

I caught the bus from Taupo to Rotarua this morning...and being only an hours journey I arrived with plenty of time to explore my new surroundings. I have a couple of excursions planned for tomorrow, so decided to stay around town today and see what was on offer. It turns out there are bubbling mud pools and steam vents everywhere... The geothermal park I saw the other day was just the tip of the iceberg! That one had larger craters, but here they are everywhere. Steam is even bubbling up through the lake, up the occasional drain and cracks in the pavement! There is stinky pond after stinky pond. And let me assure you, it really does smell pretty bad! There are windows of fresh air (my hostel is nice and odour free), but I was trying to think of a way to describe the smell when you get near the ponds. I think it's like if a dead tuna fish were put out to rot for several days with a heap of seaweed, and then slowly burned (not cooked evenly, so some is still raw and the other side is smoking) you might get something like the smell. Not that I put too much thought into it! Still, it's all pretty fascinating!

I also discovered equally fascinating St Faith's church, it's Anglican, established by missionaries and the Maori people who apparently in this area were happy to accept Christianity. The building that stands today was built in 1914, and its unlike any church I've been to.... In shape much like a European church but fully decked out in Maori carving and pattern. Quite an amazing collision of two cultures. I particularly liked the window of Jesus walking on water, wearing traditional Maori clothes.

I wandered on along the shoreline, saw and smelt more geothermal peculiarities, and enjoyed a spot of live music in a bar, with a drink and a book.

Monday 28th and Tuesday 29th

I moved hostels this morning, but within the same town, as yesterday's was closing for refurbishment. It was a bit of a claustrophobic room though, and lacking in sufficient plug sockets, so this one is possibly marginally better. Hired a bike from my new hotel, and headed out of Taupo to the Huka falls, a very spectacular waterfall series where I wide river goes through a much smaller gap... Think "the strid" in Yorkshire, but many times bigger! The mountain biking track was good too, just the right amount of technically difficulty without being dangerous. I decided to head on further as it was still looking sunny, and much of the day remained. A bit further along I found the Craters of the Moon park, an area with lots of geothermal activity, such as steami craters and bubbling mud pools. They've had the occasional eruption in the past, but not for a little while... And there's a nice wooden walkway all the way round to keep you on safe ground. Like yesterday's steam, there. Was a somewhat interesting aroma to e place! But all in all rather interesting. 

I had more time, so went on to the dam further down the river, which like Huka falls, created some spectacular waterfalls. The water is such a vivid example blue here, which adds to the prettiness. Then headed back up the other side of the river, and decided I had to stop for food at Huka falls, which was handy, as there was a massive hail storm just as I got there! I had a hot pie, which was great to begin with, but slightly concerningly I found to be cold in the middle, so asked for it to be further heated up...but I'm hoping there are no sicky repercussions as I'm booked on a trip tomorrow to do a famous walk...the Tongariro Crossing. It's meant to be one of the most beautiful in the world, and I've spent a bit of money to go with a group with a coach transfer, guides and equipment. So really hoping I don't get food poisoning, as this could somewhat put paid to my plans!!

I was fine on Tuesday, phew! So I was able to partake in my planned walking of the Tongariro Crossing. This is a 20km trail that takes you through the highest mountains (actually volcanoes) on the North Island. Because it's so snowy up there, and the track doesn't return to he same start point, the best way of doing it is to go with a group who transport and guide you. In summer it's easier to get the shuttle bus and walk it on your own, but that option isn't running at the moment. Which is good, because they were expecting up to 150 people to do the route today, as opposed to the summertime average of 3000 people. It must be extremely crowded in summer, as it felt like there were a lot in our group! It was a beautiful walk, and there was much fresh snow from yesterday. The guides didn't run the walk yesterday as it was predicted to be poor conditions...and I'm sure that hail storm would have been troublesome up there! The walk bypasses the highest peaks, which are more commonly attempted in summer, but they did look enticing. We all were supplied with crampons just in case, but the snow was stable enough not to require them. It was so unspoiled with yesterday's fresh snow! We got to slide down some slopes, as it was easier than walking, and safe due to the thickness of the snow, and the flat areas at the bottom of said slopes. The area didn't quite resemble the Mordor of Lord of the Rings that I am more familiar with, as in the films the area is so dry and snowless! There were a couple of bare patches without snow, where the geothermal activity beneath us had turned the snow to steam... And one volcano in particular the route takes a wide course around, as it last erupted only in 2012, and it still produces quite a torrent of steam! I asked the guides if there's any advance warning of such an eruption, to which they said there are usually earthquakes and a loud cracking noise first, and that if we saw them running we were to follow. Reassurance at its greatest I thought!!! It was a long descent to the car park at the bottom, but our bus was waiting, with drinks ready for us :-) A very lovely day out!

29th pictures

Again, writing to follow when there is better Wi-Fi... in short, today I walked the Tongariro crossing, a very popular walk.It was snowy and fun :-)

28th pictures

Words to follow when I have Wi-Fi!

Pictures 27th

Sunday 27th

I woke up in Napier this morning, and hired a bike for an hour in order to see as much as I could in the short time I was there. It was nice enough...though a bit of a grey day, with showers! Lots of beaches, with quite dark coloured sand rather than a typical golden sand, which was interesting. I think it's quite a popular place with water sports and surfing types, but for a visitor, it's not the most exciting place on this Island when the weather isn't great...one overnight was fine for me! The experience of getting on the coach was fairly unpleasant, and three coaches arrived, and shed their passengers, each to get onto a different coach to continue their journeys. But it was fairly unclear which coach was going where, and there were so many confused people that it was difficult to navigate through them with a large rucksack, in order to try and find someone who knew!

But eventually I got on the bus, and had an interesting journey chatting to the man next to me who was of a combination of Maori and English descent- so he was able to tell me loads of things about the land and it's traditions, and he also pointed me in the direction of the youth hostel his friends run and we all had a nice drink and piece of cake together :-) 

After settling into my room, I went for a walk to the geothermal stream, and had a brief dunk in the water (was too hot to stay long, I went all headachey!) it had a somewhat unpleasant aroma, which may not have helped. Sulfurous and nasty!

There's lots to explore here...oh I didn't say where I am! I'm at Lake Taupo... There are lots of bike and walking trails, so think I'll have another cycle tomorrow!

The pictures show the beach in Napier, and a lovely sunset in Taupo, which of course looked better in real life.

To Napier, 26th

Had another lovely breakfast at the Rydges, and said farewell to a few other wow contestants. Then met a friend of a friend for a drink and a wander, nice to see a bit more of Wellington and have a good chat. Straight on from there to the coach station.not the most exciting journey as this was one of those buses with an image over the windows, so looking out was a little blurry! And this coach was furnished with an arguing couple, and some excitable children, so not as relaxing as it might be! But anyway I arrived in Napier...which was flattened by an earthquake in the 30s and so has lots of art deco architecture from when they rebuilt the town.I'll explore tomorrow! This evening I found another hot pools establishment on the seafront, and had a nice relaxing soak :-)

Pictures from 25th

WOW awards day 25th

Running behind with blogging from yesterday as it was such a busy long day, so I'll quickly try to summarise lest I don't have time later!

Went for morning tea at the British embassy, which was great...felt like we were celebrities for the day. They were all really friendly and interested in what we do (4 British contestants were there) so we did lots of chatting and sharing tips with some local students who were also invited.  Afterwards we were driving back to town, and I asked to be dropped at the botanical  gardens  to have a look round... All very nice. They cover quite a steep hill, and a cable car goes to get top (this is where I got dropped off) and you can wander down the gardens back into town.

Then I met up with a friend of my sisters, Bethany, who showed me round the museum and shared some local insights. Was great to have her to show me around as it's such a huge museum you could spend half the time trying to figure out which bits to see. Then we had a piece of cake and I returned to the hotel to prepare for the evening. Was exciting to get dressed up, and I was pleased to see several designers had outfits, or accesories, to match their garments on stage (which is what I had done too!). the show was great once again, Nd the awards were somewhat nerve wracking even though I hadn't gone with any expectation of winning anything (which I didn't). Feeling throughly fuelled with ideas, and definelty thinking of entering again...I need to raise my game!

I spoke to a lady from the wardrobe department on the show who said that at least twice as many garments were sent to New Zealamd as were used in the show...which makes me all the more proud to have been in it at all :-)

"Designer's Day" 24th

I'll see if I can sit still long enough to write this!! What a day!!

It began by heading down to breakfast in search of other WOW contestants. At first I didn't find them, but I did find an amazing breakfast spread of everything from full English, to milkshakes, croissants, fruit, cereal, toast.....tried not to make a pig of myself. I have two more mornings to enjoy the bits I didn't try today! Slowly but surely, unmistakably designer types started appearing...well, they are very varied in nationality, age, gender etc, but you could just tell by various tell tale signs...who was looking out for others like me, who was greeting old friends, some people had badges. Some people looked plain wacky...and that's coming from me! There's a real community of people who enter every year, but they are very welcoming to newcomers too. So I spoke to many people over second and third breakfast courses (well, I have been roughing it in hostels!), and continued to chat as we got in coaches to whisk us away to the Roxy Cinema (apparently owned by Peter Jackson) for a day of Weta Workshops (film effects specialists) talks, tours and demonstrations. One lady got transformed into a dwarf (she only volunteered to have prosthetic elf ears applied, but got coerced into a full beard, eyebrows, nose, wig and face paint!) they had displays of Lord of the rings and Hobbit costume, as well as various unpleasant things like hobbit feet, and most excitingly of course armour made of scales... We got to hear about the digital work that Weta Workshops does on films, and how there is a shift in that direction as it's quicker than making everything in real life when directors are being demanding and time is of the essence. They showed us things from lots of other films too, but LOTR is a special one for me :-) 

Many people had been to see the preview show yesterday evening, but I wasn't here in time for that...but after hearing so many wonderful things I just couldn't wait until tomorrow so went tonight as well! You could easily watch it twice, as there's so much information that you're just not able to remember everything. Which is kind of interesting, I wonder if the judges will favour the entries that are most memorable to the masses...or are they looking or something different having seen year on year of shows. I was a little worried mine wouldn't hold its own out there with so many distractions, but I was pleased with how it was performed in. There are often several garments on stage at any one time, as well as a great troope of backing dancers, so there's lots to look at. They tend to circuit round the stage so that at some point during their time on stage they stand on each of the five walkways into the audience, and perform their little sequence of movement in that direction. Naturally I couldn't stop watching mine...let's hope other people felt the same. I didn't want him to leave the stage!

Strangely enough there was room in my head all the while to contemplate what I could make for next year...having seen what kind of trends appear more often, it perhaps informs what might make for a more unique entry. Although I think pretty much everything is covered, it's so varied. Perhaps the best thing is to not compare, but just keep my ideas going and see what occurs!

Can't wait to see it again!

Oh, did I say I'm invited to the British embassy for morning tea tomorrow? Swanky!!!:-)

Pictures from 23rd

World of wearable art, 23rd and on to Wellington!

This morning I just about had time to visit the world of wearable art museum in Nelson, before making my way to Wellington.it was very extremely exciting to see some previous entries and winners close up, and to watch some film footage of previous shows. It looks like such a spectacular show, I'm so excited to have been allowed to be a part of it! Slightly overwhelming in that so many amazing outfits have been created already, that trying to think of ideas that have never been done before, or coming up with something that will make the judges say "wow, that's different!" Is rather a daunting prospect! (This competition has been running since the year I was born-1987, that's many years of incredible outfits) Whether they think that of mine or not, I'm just very grateful to be a part of this show, and can't wait to see how they choose to stage my angel.

I'm now in Wellington, after a relatively calm ferry crossing. I feared it wouldn't be so, as the weather at the other end was extremely windy and rainy, but I found a sofa in the middle of the boat, and curled up and it was fine! Phew. The Rydges hotel, where I have been put up by Wellington City Council (how very nice!) is somewhat posher than the hostels I've been used to...and to have a whole room to myself is such a treat! I've spilled the contents of my rucksack everywhere...and most importantly hung my dress for awards night up to get the creases out. My room is supplied with an iron if needs be, as well as TV, microwave, fridge, mini bar (must resist the chocolate!) oh what luxury! There's a swimming pool and sauna downstairs too, but that shall have to wait as it's an early start tomorrow for 'designers day' meeting the other contestants from around the world, and having presentations and workshops. Which I'll tell you more about tomorrow!

To Nelson... 22nd

Not a massive amount to report today! I went kayaking up a river in punakaiki this morning, which was quite fun. If a little hard work going upstream.. Sometimes had to get out and wade up the faster moving bits...but there were some exciting bits going downstream! Probably going to have achey arms tomorrow!

Not the most exciting journey today, as little featured amongst the lovely but seemingly endless forests! Afraid no pictures to show, as I didn't take my phone kayaking.

Now nearly completed my bus journey to Nelson, and I'm so very excited to go to the World of wearable art museum tomorrow! Eeee!

Travel to Punakaiki, 21st

Time to say bye to the lovely Franz Josef and head on the coach to Punakaiki. There were a few familiar faces on the coach from the journey to Franz, and so we had a nice chat along the way, and all got throughly confused over which mountain was which when trying to identify the tallest one from a distance.cthere were a few stops along the way as usual, and we passed by a few sights including a sawmill and gold mine. Both these things have been fairly big industries in these parts. The journey took us out of glacier country and further up the west coast, taking in a lot of seaside along the way, and finally bringing us to Punakaiki where I disembarked. 

It is a very small place, with a couple of short streets of predominantly holiday accommodation, and that's about it. My hostel is a lovely place, all done out in a surfy beachy style, with upstairs windows looking out to sea. Glad I arrived early enough to grab a bottom bunk though as there are no rails around the top ones! There's a rock formation on the coast here know as the pancake rocks, where they have weathered in layers like stacked pancakes. Theres also a lovely beach with lots of driftwood, and a river flowing out through a gorge to the beach with a walk along its banks. I have taken in all of these sights, and watched the sun set out to sea. The coach to Nelson leaves tomorrow afternoon, so if it's another beautiful day tomorrow I may hire a kayak in the morning, we shall see!

Franz Josef glacier and kiwis, 20th

Today has been a most excellent day. The day for a slightly scary but mostly exciting journey by helicopter up to the glacier (there isn't really another way to get onto the ice as it's pretty dangerous near the bottom end). After getting kitted out in matching waterproofs, our group of 12 was taken up in two helicopter loads. We were lucky as earlier flights had been cancelled due to wind, but it had died down enough for us. It was a most spectaucular way to approach the glacier! Then we had three hours of wandering around following our guide, who shared lots of interesting bits of information about all the types of ice formation we saw, and facts about the glacier. It was surprisingly lumpy and bumpy up there, with really deep creavasses and features all round. Realły put the ice sculptures I saw in queenstown to shame!

By antidote to all the excitement, I went on a more sedate little tour of the kiwi sanctuary, where they are incubating eggs which are hatched in the wild, but which are taken into care in order to increase their survival rate, which is only 5% in the wild. This species of kiwi has increased from (if I remember right) about 100 in the wild, to 400, so it was dangerously on the edge of extinction, but has much better prospects now :-)

Tonight I shall go to the hot pools for a swim!

Journey to Franz Josef, 19th

For anyone who is wondering after my previous post, last night I did go to the ice bar- since it was my last night in queenstown I thought I'd push the boat out! It was a curious experience...they give you gloves and a coat, and send you inside a smallish room. Full of ice sculptures, and a bar made of ice where you go to get a cocktail. Which is served in a glass made of ice! Most refreshing! It didn't stick to my mouth as I thought it might, which is good. At minus 8, you don't stay in long, which is good when you're on your own, and not sure if there will be anyone to talk to. As it happened there were a few friendly people in there, and there were plenty of small talk based remarks to be made in such a novelty place. And photos to be taken...but sorry, they're on my camera, so again it's a waiting game for those!

Today it was an early start to commence the nearly 8 hour journey to Franz Josef. This sounds like a horrible journey, but actually they do nice bus journeys here, with a little commentary and plenty of stops. We stopped by a waterfall, a cafe and a salmon farm today, as well as driving through a couple of towns, and seeing coastline, rainforest and mountains. There was a stretch of about 4 hours without any mobile network (the driver warned us, so it must be all networks), so it really did feel very remote out there.

Made it here it beautiful sunshine, so went out to explore the town in the two or three hours before dark. Visited a lovely little Anglican Church, and scoped out the hot springs and kiwi sanctuary for tomorrow. Then went on another of New Zealand's well maintained and signposted trails through the forest to a tunnel (which I wasn't brave enough to venture far into!) which used to be part of an old hydro power system of some kind. A few more trails and a glacier to explore tomorrow!

Mountain climbing, 18th

My last full day in Queenstown, I wanted to get the gondola up the side of the mountain at some point, so that had to be today! It was a very steep incline, to a cafe and restaurant complex at the top that also offers various things like bungee jumping, mountain biking and a luge track (sort of downhill engineless go karts i suppose!) but first things first, I set off on my way up Ben Lomond (and you might be forgiven for thinking it was in Scotland, although taller than Ben Nevis- Nevis is 1344m and Lomond is 1748m. The Gondola gets you up to 812m though, which made it seem less!) I hired some crampons and an ice axe from a shop in town as it looked rather snowy... Although it turns out the track takes you just beyond the ridgeline that is visible from town, and on that side there's hardly any snow at all! This might have been disappointing, except that the snow was all getting soft, and the couple of places I did have to go through it, it was very slushy, and would collapse in where the underneath had melted away. If there had been snow all the way up I think I would have aborted the mission, as it would have been too dangerous. The weather was a little changeable, as was predicted, so I was armed with all the warm and waterproof options I had, plus map and compass. On the way up it varied from snow, to sun, to fog and rain. There was a little while where thick clouds were all corralled on one side of the mountain, and the other was perfectly clear. I didn't get a very good view from right at the top, but saw enough to feel satisfied with views on offer! it was amazing to get a glimpse of the other side, around here it's snowy mountains as far as the eye can see, and just when you think there can't possibly be any more, there are. Lots of the mountains are very traditional toblerone style pointy ones, which is good.

After making my muddy way back to the gondola station, I treated myself to a hot chocolate and a crepe, and was considering a go on the luge when the rain kicked in again...and it's still going now, hours later! So I gave that a miss and returned for a shower instead. Might venture into town tonight, there's a bar made out of ice apparently, which sounds interesting, and might be worth a little nosey at! Then again, it's nice and warm here! I'll see how I feel after dinner :-)

Horses, 17th

As you can see, these pictures are not of horses! The horsey pictures are on my camera I'm afraid, as I didn't want to get my phone rained on. these are of a nice bird I saw on a walk this morning. Thought its feet were unexpectedly duck-like for a fluffy looking thing. My walk took me around the shops in town, and along lake front. 

I was picked up by the bus at 1.30 to go to the stables for horse riding. There should have been five of us on this trip, but it turned out a group of three had accidentally booked the wrong month...oops! So there was just myself and another girl. It was a two hour ride for people of any level of riding experience...both of us were beginners so that's good. Only problem was the Other girl had an extremely low level of English, so she wasn't really able to follow instructions (slightly problematic!) luckily this stables was extremely relaxed in comparison with other places I've tried horse riding. They pretty much sat you on a horse, said this is start, this is stop, this is left and this is right. And off we went! The horses knew to follow in a line anyway so it wasn't too technically challenging.the guide was a lovely friendly lady and we chatted lots on the way round. We waded through rivers, deep enough to get wet feet (we had borrowed wellies luckily!), and saw the misty mountains from Lord of the Rings, and the mountains of isengard down the valley. Then back to the hostel with sore bums and knees for pasta, and another wander in to town before bed! last day in queenstown tomorrow, so I'm heading up the gondola (cable car) for a walk, hopefully it won't be too rainy. My cold (I tentatively dare to think) is improving at last, hooray!