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.

Siem Reap

I'm back in Wellington! Yay. I'm always so happy to come home to my moldy flat even though it was a great trip. Pix:


 So much hair. I got this dress made in Vietnam, from the vintage novelty jetskiers fabric I opshopped in Taranaki. I gave the amazingly talented tailors at Chi Chi a dress that my friend Grace sold to me for a fiver when she left for Europe recently. It's a beautiful 1950s dress but it's had a long life and the fabric is disintegrating. I'm also wearing the excellent Roman sandals that I got on Trademe for $4. My flatmate just went on a huge rant about how much she hates them but SORRY they are comfy and durable.


The highlight of the trip was definitely the quad biking through the countryside and rice fields. Man, it was SO BEAUTIFUL. I didn't take many photos because I was covered in dust, mud, insects, mosquito repellant, sunscreen and sweat but trust me. We biked for nearly 3 hours through the rough terrain and by the end of it I was wasted but so happy.


Here I am in front of an ancient building we found in the middle of nowhere, looking rugged as with plastic bags on my feet. I got these obnoxiously touristy pants from a market and they were perfect for the 35 degree C (95 F) heat, and the tshirt is an old one of my mum's. They're both ruined by the clay-y mud we drove through constantly.


The Angkor temples were utterly awe-inspiring. I didn't take many photos because you can just google it really, but it was excellent.


My brother took this, I wish I could claim it.


This monkey was such a badass. Here is the narrative of these pictures: it was just wandering down the causeway where it spotted something in the distance and started running towards a large group, it jumped on one of them who got such a fright she dropped her bag of food and tried to fend it off with her umbrella, the monkey tore the bag open, stole the food, went over to a shady spot and proceeded to ravage it and snarl at anyone who got too close.

Condensation inside my lens made everything a bit whimsy.

 

Nah thanks.

Sydneyside

So as you may have gathered from my somewhat-delirious last post, I went to Sydney and it was awesome. My little brother lives there studying Architecture, so we spent two hilarious nights cramped in his cube of a dorm room. AND IT WAS GREAT. 

We had to take the train out to the Anglicare Depot in Summer Hill (105 Carlton Crescent) to score some bargains. Oh, and to hang out with Caitlin Shearer! I was so excited about being on a train I got Will to take a photo for me. But then I remembered I had my 50mm lens on, so this is just a photo of my face. Blogger problems eh. 

This was the second time I'd been to Anglicare, and it did not disappoint any of us. After an hour of picking through these huge bins of clothes, shoes and junk we were all pretty exhausted, and dragged our sacks of stuff into the curated opshop part to have them weighed and priced.

I'd already found a red cotton pinafore. a vintage Australian tourist teatowel (that Caitlin actually found and let me have), a polka-dot tablecloth that will soon become a skirt and a pink cotton gathered skirt, and I thought that was a good haul. However, last time I was in Sydney I found an amazing coat in the kids section of the opshop part, so decided to have another look there. And damn, did I make bank. I found this A M A Z I N G white chiffon 1950s cocktail dress with an embroidered floral overlay. God, it is SO PRETTY. And it was $25. Which is certainly more than I'd usually pay for a thrifted dress, but a lot less than I'd usually pay for a divine fifties frock! It has a couple of small brown marks on the front, but I'm hoping a soak will get these out. It also has an excellent made-in-Melbourne label, and 3 huge layers in the skirt. So I consider it a very, very fruitful trip.

After all this picking we were pretty tired, so headed into Newtown to get some falafel for lunch, browse some more vintage shops (mostly overpriced), and then Caitlin introduced us to the best gelato we've ever had. Proof we actually met/me looking extraordinarily haggard after a loooong day/peanut butter and caramelised fig gelato.

I love this city so much. 

The next day Will and I spent at the Glebe Markets which was fruitless but fun, we had cuddles with this AWESOME cat, and Will showed me the lovely campus where he studies. Then explored the other end of Newtown and had dinner at one of its (literally) 25 Thai restaurants. We were awfully surprised when Caitlin walked into the same restaurant, especially after our discussion the previous day about the ridiculous number of dining options in the suburb. Even more coincidental was when I ran into/was chased down by some German couchsurfers I went to see Beirut with at the beginning of this year in Wellington. Small world.

Now we're in Vietnam, woo.

Ahhhhhh

It's 5.20am, and I'm in the airport en route to Vietnam and Cambodia via a two-night stopover to see my brother (and a very exciting blogger friend!) in Sydney. I got 2 hours sleep last night- this morning?- and due to my sleep deprivation I have already exhibited some bizarre behaviour, so I will keep this short. I will probably update while I'm away, but here are two recent posts I have featured in on other blogs...

Thrifters Around The World on Thriftcore 

and

100 Things Guest Post on Goodnight Little Spoon

Apparently I have to get on a plane now. Bye! See you later, New Zealand!

Vietnam Haul

Here are some pictures of the aforementioned fabric market, which is inside Tan Dinh market, and tailor in Vietnam. I was pretty happy with my experience at Chi Chi Tailor, which is at 138 Ð Pasteur (down the alleyway behind the shops) in Ho Chi Minh City. The staff were really lovely and had excellent English, and I had no trouble getting across what I wanted.

Inside the fabric market. I could've spent days there, and insisted on dragging my mum back many times for more haberdashery stuff and amazing fabric. It went on and on for rows and rows. Looking back at these pictures I realise there is so much I probably missed and I wish I'd spent more time there, although I still managed to find some excellent fabrics to bring home for my stash AND I am going back in July anyway. My favourite purchase was some strawberry-print denim that I think I paid $2/metre for, that I plan on making into some truly tacky high-waisted shorts when summer comes back to Wellington (ha ha).

The tailor had a pretty good selection of fabrics available too, but nothing that really lit my fire. I got these four dresses made, the right-hand one based on a picture from the Horrockses book Jack got me for my birthday (this one looks significantly better on a human body) and the other three based on my favourite simple 1950s dress with slight variations in the skirts. The pink lily-of-the-valley fabric was from my friend Ella, and the teardrop, stripe and velvet fabrics were from the market. I think it worked out to about $30-35 per dress including fabric, and they're mostly lined and all decent quality.

These are the ones I got from the second hand stalls at another market, that are known as 'ao sida'. They're imported clothes that people have donated from other parts of Asia and Australia and the stalls were pretty gross, but I got 3 awesome 80s dresses. When I saw the pink-y rose corset one my initial reaction was that it was hideous, but then I went back and found I'd fallen in love with it for some reason. It's grown on me a lot since then! Also the black rose-print one still needs to be taken up, as it's nearly ankle length on me which is not overly flattering but it has a nice 50s-esque shape in general. There is another one, a plaid woolen drop-waisted pinafore, but it was having a soak when these photos were taken, sorry! They were $2-3 each, which I'm extremely happy with.

Here's my whole haul (also see some of our tapestries up above the window, awesome right). The anomalous one is from River Island, but the label is Chelsea Girl which is apparently what they were called in the 60s. This one comes from a range that are remakes of their original designs, so it's kiiiinda... vintage... in a way? I don't usually like new-new clothing- as opposed to new-to-me clothing- but it was a gift from my dad and it's really beautiful. I think that sums up all the crap I acquired over there, so here's a little tiny haul from yesterday when Jack and I ducked into a few opshops on our rug hunt (WHERE DO YOU FIND A DECENT RUG?? SERIOUSLY). We desperately needed a bin so I was pretty chuffed to find this cute 1970s floral rubbish tin. Also: vintage unused tea towel and black leather mary-janes. Not bad for $10. Just wanna take a moment to say how cool it is to have a significant other who really enjoys thrifting, who I don't have to drag into every opshop. It also means our room is super cool cause it's full of kitschy stuff from before we were born. OK, DONE.