Day 2 of Birthday Weekend

19th April

My birthday! So I wake up a year older today, 21 here I am! Tom and I had already planned to do a combo day out which we found on a leaflet at the I-Site. It's been really wet weather recently and the lady at the I-Site advised us that the river was closed - so sadly we could not do the water water rafting! But we could do the other three activities!

First up, we went luge racing which is easily the most fun Tom and I have had since we've been in NZ. I haven't heard of it in the UK, perhaps its called something else. They are basically like mini go-karts, very low to the ground. They are controlled by handle bars, a bit like a bike, which you pull backwards and forwards to stop and go, and side to side to steer. Tom won the race twice, but kindly let me win on the third go since it was my birthday and all. 

Transporting us up the big hill from which we raced down, we got to take a lift in these gondolas which made for some beautiful views!

Next up we drove a short way down the road where we went wet zorbing! This was something I've always wanted to do and I highly recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to go! You can do it in the UK and I imagine everywhere else in the world also so it's not just a NZ thing! We loved it that much, we paid for a second go! 

Lastly we visited the Polynesian Spa. I've always wanted to go to a spa and I didn't really know what I was expecting, but it wasn't what it was. On first impressions as I walked into the changing rooms I had a huge fright - I thought I'd entered into the world of Naturists! There was naked women everywhere! I quickly scurried into a nearby toilet stall to change - which was the only space for privacy! When I emerged from the changing rooms Tom was quick to tell me about his similar experience! The spa was made up of large shallow pools, the deepest being deep enough for me just to stand up in and I'm 5'4. The pools were all alkaline and were generated from the volcanic waters beneath us. They varied in temperature and made us sweat alot. Thank fully - no one was naked! But we did see some questionable swimwear.... (men - speedos are NOT a good look!)

After our afternoon spent warming up in the spa we decided to get an early start to Taupo. It was 9pm by the time we got parked up in a campsite which we discovered while trying to find another. It was absolutely packed - and no surprise there as it was free! 

More to share with you tomorrow - and I think this bit might be your favourite! :)

Shellby

21st Birthday Weekend Away

Hey folks!

So Tom and I got back from my birthday weekend away a couple of days ago. Things have been so hectic I've only just had the time to sit down a write this post! We spent the weekend in Rotorua and Taupo mainly. We had a fantastic time and I have tons of photos to share with you. I think this is going to be a pretty long post, so what I'll do is I'll split it into a few posts and maybe spread them over a couple of days or so if they are quite long... Don't want you falling asleep on me!!

17th April 2014

Tom and I set off from the lodge that we work at in Tairua. The weather was awful - extremely heavy rain! There was rock debris on the roads in some places as we left the Coromandel where rocks had fallen from the cliff sides on either side of the road, quite a few drivers didn't have their lights on and it was a bit concerning. So when we eventually arrived in Rotorua late afternoon, far later than we had planned, we decided to find a campsite for the night.

While searching we came across a really quiet, secluded little boating lake with ducks and other bird life. The toilets were proper toilets (not holes in the ground!) and there was a working BBQ shelter. There was no one else there except us, until really late at night when a campervan appeared at the other end, which we didn't mind at all. We enjoyed NZ's equivalent to Pot Noodle and went to bed nice and early. 

18th April 2014

Waking up bright and early the following morning to only a light drizzle, Tom and I got washed, dressed and soon found ourselves back in the main town of Rotorua at the I-Site looking for activities to do for the weekend. Since it was my birthday I wanted heaps of excitement and a mixture of activities. We've both wanted to see a traditional Maouri culture ceremony since arriving in NZ and found Te Puia. This place was excellent! Here we watched the Maouri ceremony. Their outfits were gorgeous - particularly the women's and their singing voices were excellent! They even made us get up on stage so they could teach us some of their dance moves. 

After this we met up with our tour guide, Carl, who showed us around the Kiwi House, Getsers and Mud Pools. I couldn't get any photos of the Kiwi bird unfortunately as it is protected and the flashes on cameras (since they live in the dark) has been known to kill them, so I didn't want to be responsible for that! But I did get photos of the natural geysers and mud pools, which we were lucky enough to see in action.

Next, Carl gave us a small but interesting talk on how to weave with reads. You take a long read and a sharp shell, shaving the flax off the top of the reed you then strip into fine section almost like breaking down a clump of threads into singular threads. Next you take your leg and roll the sections over it until it forms a strong, binded sort of string. It's silky to touch and is pretty impossible to break with just human strength. 

These skirts were made using this method and can several months or years to complete. In more traditional Mapuri clothing, the reeds would be preserved and dried for many years before they can be used to make clothing, which would then take even longer!

Carl was making a cloak in traditional Maouri weaving methods, unfortunately I didn't think to take a photo but it was about half way to three quarters complete. He said so far it had taken him 31 years to get this far and that's with using commercially provided threads so that he didn't have to wait for them to dry!!

More on my birthday weekend tomorrow folks and I hope you all had a fantastic Easter!

Shellby

Not many dolls houses in New Zealand...

But there is a shed!!

First of all I want to apologise for the extremely long absence with no explanation. To keep it short and sweet - I had a bad day at work, one of far too many. And so out of frustration I applied for my first ever passport, typed up my resignation and 8 weeks later I was on a plane to New Zealand. This was back in October. Since then I've met a gorgeous guy, seen a few sites and landed myself yet another job as a Hotel Manager - except I enjoy this one and haven't had a bad day yet! 

So Tom and I are living on site in one of the accomodation lodges and we've really made it feel like home. Tom upgraded the tv from an ancient box to a slightly newer ancient box with a screen about an inch bigger each way. And I tried to download as many books on my iPad as possible to keep me occupied - but any miniature enthusiast knows it's not home without a dolls house!

So without further ado I'd like to introduce to you Kurt's Kabin!

Kurt was a neighbour of ours when myself Tom and the rest of the staff here at the Lodge lived on Daphne Road. He was grubby, unshaven, in need of a shower and really creepy!

He'd appear at our door some afternoons and ask the girls - not the boys, we soon learnt he had a no boys allowed policy - if they would like to come to his house to "get on the piss"...

Of course, we never accepted. Friendly, neighbourly gesture or not he was just too creepy! I named this little shed after Kurt. But I think the shed is much cuter than he was!

I orgininally pictured the shed to be grubby, dark, full of cobwebs, big spiders, dust and dirt and goodness knows what else! But it didn't quite turn out that way. 

Instead, I now imagine it to be the type of shed that's been sat at the bottom of the garden, unused and forgotten for a while. Perhaps the owners have just been too busy for gardening this year. Perhaps he's been watching football, and she's been spending her days working on her dollshouse!

There are Autumn leaves carefully placed one by one where I imagined the wind would blow. They have been caught up in debris and cobwebs. 

The roof is corrugated, turning rusty with weedy bits.

This project only took me a couple weeks and that's with waiting for the postage from the UK! Sadly New Zealand doesn't seem to be the place for a miniature enthusiast - I can only find one online shop and it seems very limited. If any of my readers are from New Zealand and know of any miniature shops please let me know! It'd be great to see what's available! 

So there's the reason for my absence and I promise to keep up with you all more from now on. I hope you don't mind some gap year holiday snaps between the miniature projects!

Have a great day!

Shellby x

First purchase for Hildred House!!

I've been plotting, building and buying for Hildred House really, but nothing worth showing off until now.
A lovely lady called Hazel commissioned me this beautiful picture for the secret nook in Hildred House. You don't know anything about this "nook" yet, because it's a secret ;)

Hazel paints in full scale mainly, but has recently ventured into painting miniatures after one of her customers asked her for a 12th scale miniature painting. She paints in wax, and the effect is marvelous - particularly in miniature.
I asked Hazel for a worn, damaged looking painting that would fit in with a room full old treasures. Hazel created this painting using gold card to achieve the sepia effect and it worked really well!

Click here to check out Hazel's Blog where you can see more examples of her miniature paintings, and there are links and a gallery of her full scale art.

My photo really doesn't do the picture any justice, I'm a crappy photographer!