I Went To Taranaki And Some Other Places

Warning, there are a lot of photos and they are a mix of proper camera and iPhone.

This post takes place over Christmas/the start of January. So after Christchurch I zipped back to Wellington and had two hours to pack for a two-week camping trip in the North Island. My fella and I flew to Taranaki and had a beautiful Christmas with his family, who, like my family, eschew traditional Christmas celebrations and opt for a backyard-cricket-and-Pimms vibe, which suits me nicely.

And then, post-Christmas, Jack and I set off on our road trip! There was rain forecast for the entire time, but we remained optimistic, hit up some amazing small-town opshops and made roadside sammies on our way north. I found some great 80s cotton print dresses for $1 each, perfect for balling up in the bottom of our little shared duffel bag until my other clothes got too filthy to wear.

So first up we drove to Otatu Bay in the Coromandel, and on the way in we drove past a sign that said "FRESH OYSTERS", at which point we didn't even need to consult each other because, fresh oysters. We ate a dozen each, half battered and half raw, and they were a third of the price they are in Wellington. When we got to the campsite, we found that the family camping next to us had a boat and fished every day and they brought us even more beautiful fresh kai moana. It was a great start to the trip.

 It rained on the second night we were there and so we moved the mattress from our teeny tiny tent into the back of the car, at which point we realised the car was ten times comfier than the tent. So for the rest of the trip we used to tent to store our chilly bin, and just slept in the car, with our heads up the back looking out the boot window at the stars every night. It was gorgeous and perfect and I was grateful, as always, for being 5"1' while my tall boyfriend's feet dangled off the edge of our folded-down-back-seat makeshift bed. Sleeping in the car for that long also cemented my view that yes, I CAN live in a van while driving across the United States, which is something I've always wanted to do but been unsure whether it would be liveable.

The campsite and beach were great, in a calm little Coromandel inlet with pohutakawa everywhere . Also looking at these photos makes me regret not using my proper camera more and relying on my iPhone so much.

Taranaki Hardcore

We went to Taranaki last week and it was the best. I am irrationally scared that writing about how great it was will replace my actual memory of how great it was, but damn, it was great. Jack's parents live on a beautiful verdant market garden on the beach, so all there is to do is go on walks and eat and drink and read by the fire and read in the hammock and go opshopping, and because his family are so nice it's like staying in a cosy well-decorated hotel where all the staff are your best friends. Sighhhh.

While I was there I also had the pleasure of meeting Jack's lovely grandma, who is a bit of a master knitter. To my delight she let me pore through her box of 1940s knitting patterns, and she is currently knitting me the cardigan on the right with some pale blue wool I got for cheap on Trade Me!

I totally should've bought the Chauvanist Pig board game, although I do not regret leaving behind the mug o' condoms. I did find lots of other great things in opshops, though. I don't have proper photos of any of them yet so here are some Instagram repeats:



Perfect and super comfy red 1960s mary janes which are NZ made and were barely worn when I got them! Plus a rather warm teal mohair Scottish-made cape, then the perfect 1970s pink striped tee worn over a 1990s spotted dress.

Wander in the Woods

I think I've said it before, but our house is literally in the bush. On every side there is thick forest, homes nestled in massively overgrown gardens, and beautiful parks, not to mention a 225 hectare native forest and wildlife sanctuary that starts at the end of our road. Every time I go for a walk or a bike ride, I seem to be finding some other gorgeous bit of greenery to get muddy shoes exploring. So when Kita and I went for a walk the other day to find somewhere to take some photos, we weren't too surprised to find this little bit of woods a few hundred metres from home. We wandered, we got terribly lost, we took pretty photos. The end.

 

 I have wanted a dress like this ever since Caitlin's post with a near-identical one, which was in January. I missed out on buying her one off her, but searched madly for one with all sorts of keywords on eBay and Etsy. I finally found this one and snapped it up for a very reasonable price, but not before Oasis made a poor replica of it, for the massive cost of £85. This is by no means the first time a big-name company has blatantly ripped off a vintage garment, and to me it reeks of a lack of originality. If all that corporate backing can't buy an original design, what's the point? Mine is the real deal 1950s novelty, the label is 'Kay Whitney by Huntington' and the placement of the print is so perfect. It came with a matching belt, but I decided on this pink one off another 1940s dress for today. I wore my Marie Antoinette dress with an old pink handknit ballet cardigan, Columbine brown woolen tights, opshopped black t-bar mary-janes and the 1960s banana basket that Jack's lovely mum opshopped for me.

 Kita loves this photo so I had to include it.


Where the wild things are.

Road trip, again

Hi! Firstly I'd like to say thanks to much to everyone who took the time to leave such insightful and awesome comments on my last post, and especially those who sent emails which sparked great conversations. It is really cool to know there are a lot of smart and analytical people reading this blog who think about the same things as I do. All your responses were so valued and valid and awesome.

Second, I just got back from Taranaki and ah it was amazing. I've finished all my papers for this semester, which leaves a 5-week break between handing in my final assignments and the start of my final semester of my degree. So Jack's family kindly flew us to stay with them in rural Taranaki, about 5 hours (by car) north of Wellington. They live in an amazing Art Deco house on a huge orchardy property by the beach, and we were slept upstairs in this funny all-window room that the previous occupants illegally and shoddily built onto the house. His parents think the house is a dump and bought it with the intention of demolishing it asap, but I adore it. It has a green bathtub, leadlight windows, rimu flooring and the most amazing geometric door handles that I regret not photographing. We did nothing at all for 3 days. It was magical. Lots of red wine and chocolate and tamarillos and walks to the beach. And so, so much opshopping. I bought SO MUCH GOOD STUFF, I actually cannot believe it.



Jack's mum is basically my kindred spirit, so no wonder I like him so much. She and I share an immense love of opshopping, preserving fruit, and Kevin McCloud. She somehow knows exactly what I like, and upon arrival I was presented with a Horrockses tropical-print cotton dress, a gorgeous painterly floral blouse, and this perfect sixties banana basket, the likes of which I've lusted over for ages. She sent us back laden with tamarillos and avocados and passionfruit and limes, and also drove us all the way back to Wellington, and we stopped in every thrift store we found on the way. I'd say in the last 4 days I've probably been to around 30 second-hand shops, which is good by me. Here is most of what I got- be warned, there's a ton. Sorry for the mammoth entry.



Modern tea towels suck. I got 7 vintage ones on this trip, as well as 3 aprons, but these two faded Kiwiana ones are my favourites. These were from the New Plymouth Hospice Shop, which was without a doubt the most frantic and chaotic opshop I've ever visited. When I found these I literally clutched them to my chest, as I'd been warned that patrons there have been known to snatch things from other shoppers.



So much yellow! This top is amazing, it's 100% wool and made in New Zealand in the 1950s, and it's 'A May Belle Garment' apparently. It was $2 and is now one of my favourite garments in my whole wardrobe. These 1970s woolen cropped pants were from Savemart, which is undoubtedly the worst chain of opshops in the country. Their prices are ludicrous no matter which city- this one had some old dolls, like the big plastic ones from the 1960s with blinking eyes, for $84.99 each. I can't understand that. But these pants were only $7.



These two were great finds in an opshop in Eltham on the way home- a severed and a whole 1950s dress for $5 each. The dotty one that has been chopped is pretty sad and will have to be hemmed and worn as a blouse, and the pink floral cotton one is just perfect, and fits me well too. So happy with these!



This peach woolen cardigan looks like it's never been worn, and the robot jersey was from the little boys' section of the Sallies in New Plymouth. I often look in the childrens sections at opshops because I am a very little 5'1" or 155 cm, so kids coats and shoes often fit me. The peach lace longline bra was a miraculous find for $1, it's the first I've ever seen in opshops and through some stroke of good luck it fits me absolutely perfectly. It is much comfier than modern ones and gives your bust that excellent conical shape that looks perfect under the fifties mustard tee from up there.



This big smoking fisherman tapestry looks like the guy on the Fisherman's Friend tin, these black t-bar mary janes looked unworn when I got them, and the tooled 1970s leather floral handbag was $1 and I couldn't leave it behind.

Four excellent novelty print fabrics I've acquired recently. The planes and circus are from Trademe, and the waterskiers and whatever the other one is are opshopped on this trip.

Plus lots of things too boring to photograph. Lots more Agee preserving jars for 30c each (including the really old kind with the extra rim around the top! Exciting!) and some 70s Tupperware to keep the mice out of my lentils and belts and misc kitchenware and pillowcases and scarves and a raincoat and things. We also got 3kg of cheese. No regrets. Sorry for the lack of decent outfit posts lately, I will try to remedy this asap.

'Naki

Hey, sorry for being a shithouse blogger lately. I just got back from 5 days in Taranaki, a few hours north of Wellington, where I attended the coolest music festival ever, Womad. We pretty much had the perfect trip- excellent luck hitching up, perfect weather (and somehow no sunburn), beautiful beaches to swim at, great company, and so on and so forth. And the music wasn't so bad either. The highlight was either the 14-piece orchestra from Japan who played mostly childrens/toy instruments or a group of Mongolian throat singers. I didn't have my camera with me most of the time due to dangerous dancing/beer/general distraction, but I managed a couple of shots.


Found ourselves in an amazing park feat. hundreds of ducks AND an aviary on the way up. I wore my new-old 1950s 'walkway' dress from Trademe that will definitely be featuring in an outfit post soon. I wore it for 4 days straight when I first got it; clearly I am adjusting well to life away from home where I have to do my own washing.


Making the most of the end of Summer, swimming with the boys.


Hilarious performance art from Sivouplait.


WOMAD. Wo-mazing.


Waterfall swimming on the last night.



We spent a night after the festival at Jack's parents' place in Onaero, which is a freakishly beautiful area. Legend told that his mum was an avid thrifter, which proved to be correct. The three of us spent two days cruising around all the Taranaki opshops, listening to Fleetwood Mac and scoring some insane bargains. We also stopped at a cheese factory shop on the way back to Wellington, where Jack and I purchased 2kg of cheese between us. It was the perfect way to end summer- I'm sad about the onset of Autumn, especially with such wonderful summery clothes and women's sandals coming on the market right now. But onto the vintage!


Jack has this weird talent for finding small brown leather items for me in opshops. First was the camera case/purse from my Petone post, and then these! A perfect purse to replace my broken cat-shaped one, and these amazing 70s oxford-y heeled shoes that were 50c! They're missing a shoelace, but some lilac ribbon will do in the meantime.


This 1970s-ish Mickey Mouse flask/thermos smells a little suspicious, understandably, but nothing a bit of bleach and sunshine can't fix.



Patterns! These were 10c each from an opshop in Fitzroy. The styling of the one at the front is dreamy, and makes me desperately want lilac tights. And at the next thrift store, I found lots of great vintage fabric to go with said patterns. I can't wait to get back to my sewing machine now.


All these pillowcases were thrifted on the trip too, except the Goodnight Kiwi which is my boyfriend's.


I'm soooo happy with this find. One of the opshops boasted a huge pile of aprons, and I dug this one out randomly 'cause the fabric appealed to me. I was looking for the price tag (50c, naturally) and discovered this lovely little tag here...

Horrockses! A Horrockses apron! Ah, I am so chuffed. When I saw this little tag I was ecstatic, which I guess is really strange to most people.

Sadly, after all this hedonism I now have to catch up on 5 days of uni work.