Woohoo I'm Famous ...but not really :)

Well I feel incredibly special :) I just found a link to my blog from the Rose of Tralee Blog (if you scroll down 3 posts approx. you can find the one i'm talking about) and I also found all of our Stage Interviews from the selection ball, on YouTube. Click here to check them out.

I'm still having major withdrawal symptoms and cant get enough Rose info, I only wish I was going to the festival in August (I'm hoping to miraculously win Lotto without having to buy a ticket) so I can support Elizabeth aka NZ's Rose.

Since my blog has been getting its special mention from the ROT Blog, its been getting visits from all over the world (mainly NZ, America and Ireland), which is super cool, so a massive Kia Ora and Thank You to everyone taking the time to read my blog :)

Please check out our NZ Rose of Tralee site to see more about our amazing adventure :)

Rose of Tralee - Sunday/Monday

We woke up relatively early on sunday morning, packed up all our stuff, and headed over to our brunch. Elizabeth had and interview/photo for the paper and looked beautiful, especially considering the lack of sleep.

Brunch was nice, it was nice to spend some time with my family since they came all the way to Invercargill for me. After our farewell hugs and a couple of speeches, we presented our AWESOME Chaperones with some gifts, and said our 'See ya laters'.

Me and the Fams headed down to Bluff to have some photos with the sign. We had photos up at Cape Reinga ages ago when Carl was on his mission, so of course we had to take photos at Bluff(see my sisters blog for those photos)
We bumped into Ashley (Hutt Valley Rose) and she took some photos for us, then we wandered over to one of the little 'cafe/restaurant type things, and got us some Oysters. Can anyone Say EEEEEWWWWWWBLEEHHH!!!

Oh my gosh, mind over matter was all I could do. It was my first time eating oysters and flip I'm pretty sure thats my last. Somehow I managed to eat two of those disgusting sea creatures, and got $10 from mum and dad for my second one hahaha. Tania didnt quite manage to swallow one, though she did chew it for the longest time!

Next was the drive to Dunedin. Lisa's Mum told mum and dad the scenic route so we could see some of the country side, but by the time we left, it was getting dark, so we missed a bunch of it. What we saw was nice though, but I had a good ol sleep. Once in Dunedin, I got ready for bed and was asleep by 6pm to wake before 5am to get to the Airport on time.

The flight home was uneventful, I was so disappointed with the Wellington landing and Takeoff, Noo turbulence/landing sideways/strong winds or anything. Stink, but it was nice to be home again (actually thats a lie, i wish the weekend could have lasted a month!!)

Rose of Tralee - Saturday

Finally, here is Saturday

After breakfast, and signing a copy of 'The Southland Times' for a visiting Hockey team, we got to meet our beautiful little rose-buds. Mine was 6 year old Alice and heck she's a little cutie!!

After getting to know our rosebuds, our escorts arrived and we all rehearsed entering the ball (being escorted by our rosebuds), being walked up to the stage and off the stage for our interviews and the announcement (helped by our Escorts), and a general rundown of the evening. The ballroom was already looking fantastic, and we were all getting excited, although I had a hard time concentrating..There was a really cool cherry picker that was being used to put up decorations, and I really really wanted to have a ride. Sadly it didn't happen :(

Just after 10 we headed off on a ROAD TRIP!!! to Bluff. It was hecka cold up at the lookout, but it was so pretty. We could see the other islands through the fog, and after our photo op, we went down to the sign post at the end/beginning of SH1. Super cool!!

After photos by the sign, and photos by the chain (linking the South Island to Stewart Island), it was back to Invi to visit the Museum, then over to Waxy O'Shea's for lunch.

On the bus back to the Hotel (Ascot Park Hotel), our Judges, who had spent all day Friday and Saturday with us, sprung a surprise challenge on us... a Group Interview. As soon as we arrived at the hotel, Lisa Monaghan (2009 NZ Rose) explained to us how it worked, the judges simply give us a topic, we have 1 min to think about it, and then we have 10 mins to discuss it. Its not a debate, just a discussion. Sweet. It was pretty fun, but flip those girls are brainy and full of knowledge. I definitely watched too much TV as a child.

After 2 discussion topics, we had to multi-task our getting ready for the ball (hair and makeup appointments + generally getting ready), personal interviews with the judges and an interview/conversation with the MC in preparation for our stage interviews.

Everything went well and we got ready on time. I was so happy with my makeup and hair, and think those lovely ladies did a great job.

Once we were ready, a group of us headed over to the foyer to meet our Rosebuds and Holy Moly there faces were priceless! The Highlight of my weekend right there. They saw us and their faces lit up, they were so happy and excited and ran right at us. Thus started our awesome Night.

Photos with everyone, rosebuds, escorts, eachother, then it was into the ballroom waving with our Rosebuds, up to the stage with our Escorts then after all the intros were made, dinner time!! Can I say YUM!! The food was delicious, my table was awesome, the music was choice, the little irish dancers were so cute, the older Irish Dancers were awesome, everything was AWESOME!!!

Stage interviews were next, and I actually had heaps of fun with mine. The MC was really cool and was easy to talk with, and the questions were way better then the friday night (or I was just less scared). Then it was time to dance the night away while the judges deliberated.

The Rosebuds had endless energy, and were still going hard at midnight while we were waiting for the judges to decide. We had heaps of fun coming up with new dance moves, and definitely got the party started.

The Roses and Judge Jim, Just before THE Announcement...

Our 2010 NZ Rose, Elizabeth Sara representing Otago.

After most of the guests left, all the roses, our escorts, and some family members had a sing-a-long in one of the meeting rooms, till the wee hours of the morning. After we finally headed back to our rooms, we continued to celebrate and Laura (Auckland Rose) even taught us some Irish Dancing. Eventually we let Elizabeth go to sleep (after having photos wearing her crown, and skyping karens (Chch rose) family in Ireland).

All in all, Saturday was another amazing day in our fun filled weekend of awesomeness!! I wish I could go again (or maybe they should crown a North Island rose *ahem ahem ME* and send them off to Ireland)

a poem to my sister...

Tania I love you,

I really really do.

Sometimes I lay in bed dreaming,

wishing I were you too.

You are so lovely and kind,

my m

And this is where I caught Tania writing on my Blog!!!!

Rose of Tralee - Friday

I'll try to keep this short (hehe thats funny coz i am short haha) so I will be leaving out the details, so I have some stories leftover to tell :)

Friday, the real fun began. We woke up at 7.30am to get ready and met the Judges at breakfast by 9am. Breaky was lovely and so was the company, it was crazy to think that we were officially in a competition.

Just after 10am, we arrived at the 'Seriously good chocolate company' where we donned hairnets and aprons, and created masterpieces!!

After learning how to make chocolates from molds, we mucked in and got to work. I managed to 'accidentally' get a bunch of chocolate on my gloves, which promptly got licked off(when we were finished of course). Once we were done and they were dried, we packed up our little goodie bags and headed out for a brisk walk to lunch at the Kiln (I am so proud of myself, that paragraph could have been 5 times as long, but now I have some stories left to tell).

During lunch, we met our MC who introduced himself, then went down the line and said who each of us were, and what region we were representing. Pretty impressive I think!!

After lunch at the kiln, we did a little bit of window shopping and stopped in to a few shops/sponsors to have a look, and have our photos taken.

"The New Zealand Rose of Tralee finalists (from left) Ashley Mackenzie-White, Karen Lynch, Kimberley Farthing, Nicole Gourley, 2009 New Zealand Rose of Tralee Lisa Monaghan, Elizabeth Sara, Anna Mills and Laura Young merrily stride down Don St in Invercargill yesterday"

On our way to our mayoral reception with the one and only Tim Shadbolt, we were met by the Southland Times who took our photo which made it to the front page of Saturdays issue(photo above).

Meeting Mayor Tim was flippin awesome!! We didn't get to talk to him much because he's a busy man, but he welcomed us graciously, we had a couple photographs, then we mingled with everyone who was there. There were people from the various Irish societies, Tim Shadbolts people, family of Lisa, and other really awesome people.

The shortest and the Tallest, Me and Ashley

Next on the Agenda was a walk down to H&J Smith Department Store (think Farmers) where we got our makeup done at various makeup counters. I went to Revlon and the lovely beautician beautified me for the Social evening.

After changing into Cocktail dresses for dinner and the social evening, we departed for the Kelvin Hotel. Dinner was delicious!! even though we were so full from Breakfast + Chocolate + lunch + mayoral reception + Dinner + Desert. Soo much food!! They even had nibbles at the social night, also held at the Kelvin.

Mum, Dad and Tania had arrived in Southland after flying in that day, so I finally got to see them and hang out with them a bit. It was a bit scary having all three judges sitting at the table with them during the night, but I got to sit with Tim Shadbolt so it was aall Good!!

The night was awesome, The Roses mingled with everyone and met each others supporters. Some of our Escorts had come to support us which was lovely. During the night we had our first on-stage interviews. Mine was OK, then it was onto the talents. The talents were not judged, they were just a bit of fun. I did a Solo Jive, and after I finished and walked off the floor, Michelle, Rachel and Lynne(our chaperones), started calling for Tim to get up and dance with me. Much to my surprise, my dream came true and I got to bust a move with Tim Shadbolt!!

Me and Tim were best buddies by then, so we had a good time.

The rest of the night was generally meeting more people, singing classic Irish songs (I'm so glad I learnt 'I'll Tell Me Ma' at Camp last year) and convincing Tim Shadbolt to be my dance partner on Dancing with the Stars.

In conclusion, Friday was awesome!!!!

The Rose of Tralee - Thursday

I'm going to try and write the short short story about my weekend, because I was writing the Long Long story...aand I'm 4 pages in, and only half way through the 2nd day. So here goes...

Thursday
Tania dropped me off at the Hamilton Airport and I jumped on my flight. The lady sitting next to me was also flying all the way to Invercargill and she was awesome to talk to.

My first glimpse of the South Island of New Zealand

I told her all about the Rose of Tralee and invited her to the social evening that night at Waxy O'Shea's Irish Pub. She couldn't make it because of work, but when we got into Chch, she gave me a quick tour of the airport and went to visit a family member during our layover. When she came back, she (Sherwyn) found me in the food court and helped me study my Irish line. I was really nervous about reciting it, and didn't want to say it wrong, hence the studying.

New Zealand is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!

The flight from ChCh to Invi was cool aswell.
I sat next to a guy who was going Camping on Stewart Island with a bunch of other guys on our flight, and they became my fan club, the flight Attendant even came over to find out a bit more about the event, and announced it over the intercom (little did I know, one of the judges(Jim Maguire) and some Taranacki supporters where also on my flight).

I had to put on my sash before the plane landed and before I made it halfway down the gangway, my amazing/lovely/awesome/enthusiastic/beautiful chaperones spotted me and gave me a warm welcome.

Michelle drove me to our hotel and I met the other girls who had arrived, and my roomie Nicole Gourley(Southland).

After getting to know the girls a bit, we all met for dinner in the Hotel Restaurant. We met our chaperones, the organising committee, Lisa Monaghan (2009 National Rose), Charmaine Kenny (2009 International Rose), and Nicole (Charmaines awesome Travel buddy). Elizabeth from Otago hadn't arrived yet because her bus had broken down and was delayed almost 2hrs, so we met her after dinner when we arrived at Waxy O'Shea's for the nights activities.

The night at Waxy's was specifically for us to get to know eachother, and meet our escorts, so the judges were not there. Only one Judge (Maryanne Ward-1988 NZ National and International winner of the Rose of Tralee) came, and she was just there for a little while.

While we were waiting to go inside, there was a group of ladies sitting by the window and they had a sign pressed against the window that said 'WELCOME KYMBELY'

My Awesome Supporters in Southland

I had no idea who they were, but when I finally got a chance to talk to them during the night, I found out that they are work mates of lovely Sherwyn from my flight. I was so surprised and felt really special that she had asked them to come and support me because she couldn't make it. Southlanders are ridiculously awesome!!!!

Me and Zena

We were each announced and walked in, then one by one, were introduced to our escorts. My escort was the coolest, and when he came to get me, instead of just handing me a rose like the others, he took my hand, gave it a kiss and twirled me round. The crowd loved that (and so did I).

During the night the Boys had surprise challenges to complete, which was funny because most of them didn't have a clue what they were getting themselves into by agreeing to be our escorts. They had to read out a Limerick in their best Irish Accent, pour some Guinness and make a Shamrock in the foam while pouring, race to peal potatoes (Jarryn totally should have won this one), and dance with us enthusiastically. It was pretty funny.

The Guys pealing Potatoes

In between the challenges, we (the Roses) sold raffle tickets and had a generally awesome time! We couldn't stay too late because we had a massive weekend ahead of us, so we headed back to our hotel (The Ascot) to get our beauty sleep.

I'll try to make the next post shorter, but i doubt it will be because I want to tell everyone how awesome everything was!!!

The Awesome Weekend

This last friday night, the TV YSA put on a 'Yellow' themed Dance at the Dinsdale chapel. It was pretty fun and had an awesome music selection. I thought I owned yellow things..turns out I have 2 yellow tops and a necklace and thats it, so my outfit was a bit lame-oo.

Here's me and Matty blending in before the dance, and Rochelle and her awesome Post-it outfit.

Saturday morning I woke up early and drove out to the Hamilton Gardens. I had 3 1/2 hrs of Engagement portraits set up and I was excited to meet the couples and see what we could do. When I arrived, I met Brooke and she gave me the run down of how it works (Brooke is the awesome photographer I work for, check her website here www.wheretheheartis.co.nz).

My first 15 min session was at 9.45am, and went really well, after that, I had 2 couples not show up, and one cancel, then I had another one for a couple I know from my Ballroom/Latin classes. It was awesome to see them, I didnt know they were getting married, and they didnt know I was a photographer so it was pretty funny. All the other sessions went really well, and only had one more couple not turn up. The weather was a bit teko, but we still managed to get some amazing photos and have a good time. I will possibly post some of the photos later on/make a photography blog when I am less busy.

Saturday afternoon was busy with setting up for my Dads 50th Bday Partay. Me and Tania went into town and picked up a couple extra things for the decorations/treats and our costumes. Then it was home to get things ready to take to the Institute Building

Saturday Night We all helped set up the food/tables etc and got ready in our costumes. All of Dads Rellies were invited and it was a really cool night. There are photos of the food and some of the costumes on Crystal & Sams blog, so I will put on different ones.

The Nerds: Ryan, Elle and Tania

It was a pretty chill night, and but we had to have a couple of games. If you've seen my dad, you may have noticed his lack of eyebrows. So instead of pin the tail on the Donkey, we played, 'Pin the eyebrow on Nigel'.

It was my cousins birthday on Sunday and My uncles birthday on Thursday, so we got them a cake and sang to them as well.

After desert we ended up playing games till midnight!

Sunday I was so nervous. I had an interview on Community Radio at 1.20pm because I won Waikato Rose of Tralee 2010. I was sooo flippin scared, but the guys were pretty cool, and made it less scary.

Here is a photo of me and the radio hosts after my 30min segment. They asked me questions about everything!! And we had a chat afterwards. Looking back, it was fun, but at the time, it was not!! but its over and I can move on with my life now :)

Sunday Night we had some of the family over to eat the rest of the food from Dads party. There was HEAPS!!! and it was delicious, so thank you to the awesome cooks!!