One Year at DAKS

Wow - I can't believe that I have been at Daks for a whole year now! I have had such an incredible year here and have been given so many amazing opportunities - still pinching myself really. I never thought in a million years that I would end up in the fashion industry - it was never my 'thing' but now I just can't get enough of it and am officially hooked! I work with such a talented team who are also now great friends of mine so I couldn't be happier. When I think to back to living at home and hearing stories of designers in London that get to travel to Italy and Paris during the year it just sounded like a movie to me - I mean, I only did see it in the movies - and now thats my life, even writing this now I'm pausing and thinking, wow. The mornings where we get in a black cab and head off to the V&A to see an exhibition or wake up after a nap at a hotel to get a 6am cab and head to Somerset House to work backstage at the fashion show - those are the movie mornings.

I've been working towards this since I started my diploma in computer graphic design when I was 16 years old and ten years down the line I am so proud of my journey through the design world, I really can't imagine any other way of living, I am constantly learning and growing and I just can't seem to get enough of it.

Next month is London fashion week yet again followed by a trip to Paris to the textile fair - I'm staying on for the weekend to have a mini break while I'm there - I never seem to get over seeing seeing the Eiffel Tower its just so breathtaking so were planning a picnic in the park near by as well as exploring the markets for some vintage finds. Before all of this I'm off to Scotland for my cousins wedding then off to Spain for a week of relaxation - all my holidays consist of traveling over chilling so I'm going to take some books and just chill out. I really feel like I could just sit at the beach and stare at the ocean for a week straight!

There are so many exciting projects coming up at Daks over the next year so I'm ready to go into year two with just as much excitement and enthusiasm as when I first started here - I look forward to updating you all with future projects! 

Fare Thee Well Wimbledon - Hello Clapham!

After 11 months in our gorgeous home in Wimbledon (re-named Wimbles or Wimbledoniam) it is time to say goodbye. Where the time has gone I do not know!
I have never lived anywhere else this long that hasn't been a family home (due to me being in the generation of returning home to save some dosh every now and again!) so it has been bitter sweet leaving. I have decided to venture out on my own so I can meet new people and even though it was daunting at first I'm really glad I settled on this decision as I have found a nice new place in Clapham South. Its really hard finding a new place in London, so many factors play into it with cost, location, competition with every other flat hunter and of course finding people you actually like and feel you could live with and vice versa. You have about 10-15 minutes in each house and that includes getting to know the flat mates! After a few months of searching I finally found a house that is 25 minutes to work (I was an hour away in Wimbles) and of course one of my new flatties is a Kiwi and ones an Aussie - but there is one token English! They had around 20 people come to view the place so I was stoked when they called and offered me the room - I saw it on the Monday and by the next night it was settled really - like I said, rooms go quick. So to fare thee well our first home in London we had a tennis themed BBQ at the house with friends! I made tennis ball cake pops which were so cute! Definitely my new craze...

I'm excited about this new chapter in my London life - at first I had minimal things in my room as I was all about saving to travel but seeing that London is now where I live I am going to make this new place more of a home (as in I want to buy photo frames, cushions, candles etc all the little things I initially wanted to do without) so I was a little naughty and splashed out on a beautiful cushion from John Lewis to get things started! Seems I will be here for a while so might as well decorate! I couldn't believe the pile of things I had to move - considering that I only arrived last year with just one suitcase - I have accumulated a fair bit!  

Hope everyone back home is keeping warm, its been really hot here the last week (going to rub it in while I can, tomorrow may be freezing again for all I know!) Will be doing an 'Out and About in London' update soon! Happy weekend to you all!

Royal Windsor Horse Show

A few Sundays ago I went along to The Royal Horse Show with my work colleagues as Daks is one of the key sponsors of this event. It's held annually in Windsor, about an hour from central Waterloo station and is only £4.40 return which is amazing for London! Windsor is such a beautiful, quaint town full of character and history - I had no idea it was there until this trip! I really need to study up more on London... You arrive in a cute little village of commercial shops and as you walk out Windsor castle is right in front of you! Beautiful rivers and parks surround the area making it perfect for picnics on a sunny day (so not that often over here haha!) and the grounds from the station are about a 10 minute walk away.

It was such a fun day out and I'm really glad I went, it was like a huge fair with stalls, rides and of course the show area - we had V.I.P tickets from Daks so got some of the best seats! There was a perfomance from the NZ Army band which was so cool to see! They even did a version of the haka!!! Its buzzy to be in the same place as the Queen and other royals though, its a world you just see in the tabloids or on the news so to be that close was an awesome experience. Highly recommend a visit to Windsor should you ever visit London....

Ephesus & Pamukkale

Today I was bright eyed and bushy tailed while everyone else was feeling absolutely rubbish! To start the day we headed to the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (which later became a Roman City). 

The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - no need to guess why - I thought it didn’t get better than the ruins of Pergamum but I was happily mistaken - I can’t even describe how breath taking this place was, walking around what was once and actual city that the ancient Greeks and Romans walked through thousands of years ago - how do you comprehend it? Its one of the biggest must-sees of the tour thats for sure! You’ll see in one of the photos above what they used to use for toilets - not alot of privacy! It was 28 degrees when we were walking through here so an ice cream was needed before we boarded the bus to continue on our way to Pamukkale!

On the way, we stopped at a leather good factory where they put on a mini fashion show - out of everyone I got pulled up, taken back stage, dressed in a leather coat and sunnies and made to walk down the runway... was all good fun though! Then we stopped at an incredible carpet making company - the workmanship that goes into one carpet was remarkable. It can take 9 months to make just one square meter of carpet by hand and we got to see such talented women creating a piece of carpet each, one knot at a time. Of course I was in my element photographing every piece of carpet  - the designs were so inspiring! Then we all got given apple tea and they rolled out carpet upon carpet for us to see. The building was huge and as you walk down the corridor there is room after room after room each with an individual business selling carpet - it was really something else! Everywhere you go in Turkey there seems to be carpet especially at markets like the Grand Bazaar - being a tourist I’m not sure how we are meant to buy it and carry it through customs!!

To finish the day we headed to Pamukkale which is famous for its unique cascades of natural mineral rich pools - it was so beautiful. When I saw this on the brochure before booking I thought it was snow! Its an incredible mountain like area of white rock and the water is so fresh, clear and warm. It went down layer by layer - everyone has to take there shoes off before stepping onto it so you have to be careful walking barefoot down the layers and in the water but wow it was so cool!!! Highly recommend! We then headed to our hotel where there were hot thermal pools and all chilled out and relaxed. I was out like a light that night and didn’t wake up till 6am when we had to get up and get ready for our 11 hour bus ride back to Istanbul which actually went quite quickly as we were watching movies and sleeping most of the way. An ice cream fight with one of the Aussie boys at lunch ended with me in a puddle of water and mud so I spent the last half of the bus trip soaked and I had to sing again for being last on the bus which wasn't fair! I survived though - thanks to my fair share of experiences growing up with an older brother - having my clothes ruined by mud and sitting in dampness for a few hours wasn't the worst thing that I have had to endure in my lifetime! Love you Greig!

Roman Pergamum

 

 

 

 

The Roman ruins of Pergamum were so amazing!!! WOW! I love ancient ruins, walking around them and imagining who walked before you on the exact same path. The craftsmanship and labour that went behind these ancient structures are just remarkable. I was never really interested in history at school, everything was always art and design (still is really!) but after the past year I have such a keen interest in history - I find it all so fascinating! We got a gondola up to the top of the hill, reminded me of going up to the gondolas in Rotorua, and had a wonder around for an hour or so all while our tour leader was telling us the stories behind the ruins. Rege used to be a history teacher and speaks great English so we all really enjoyed learning from him - he must have told the history of this place so many times but he re-tells it with such pride that this all took place in his country. I had no idea Turkey contains so much history from the Roman empire...

We arrived at our hotel which was a bit of a down-grade from the last few but still better than a hostel! That night was 'the big night out' but considering the state I was in from the previous night I just had a sober dancing night out! Randomly we went to an Irish Bar... in Turkey? Yes... whats more there was a tattoo parlour right next door. What happens when a bunch of Aussies get drunk next to a tattoo parlour?? Note how I said Aussies and not Kiwis haha! A handful got tattoos, including a 6 inch Tinkerbell sitting on a lotus flower... my oh my...

My Birthday!

 

 

 

At dinner after we arrived at the hotel from Gallipoli, Logan and I were surprised by an amazing and delicious Turkish cake that our tour guide had organised for us!! It was so thoughtful and sweet and really made my day. There was a group of 8 or so that were adamant on celebrating into the night even though they were exhausted from the last few days which I thought was really neat especially since we only really just met everyone! After a few bottles of Raki and Vodka I woke up minus my camera, shoes and sunnies. This is a sign of a fantastic birthday!!! After running around the hotel for an hour or so I finally found all my belongings and clambered onto the bus - needless to say I wasn't feeling the best....! It was my first birthday away from home and it was one to remember, especially because of the experience at the Anzac service.

I was surprised at work when I returned the following Monday with a gorgeous cake and cookbook! I was rummaging in the cupboard for a book and somehow two offices of people managed to sneak up behind me and start singing happy birthday - I got the fright of my life!! I can't believe I am doing another birthday update on this blog - feels like it was not that long ago since I posted about my 25th combined with my farewell - time flies! I can't believe I am 26 years old - each year I feel more carefree and fun even though I have more responsibility in terms of looking after myself etc but I'm free to do whatever I please and I'm so excited for the next year!!!

Gallipoli, Turkey

 

This morning we were up early and away heading to the WW1 battlefields on the Gallipoli Peninsular. We stopped off for a BBQ lunch on the way then continued on to the site. We parked up in a long queue of buses where we had to wait for a few hours in line before getting into the service area - you have to go through a security check like you would at the airport. So we left our stuff in a heap and wondered over the small hill to a beautiful beach - it was a site I will always remember with a big smile - hundreds of Aussies and Kiwis standing on the bank in awe of the sandy beach before us and almost simultaneously everyone took off their shoes and ran onto the beach, splashing in the water, chucking a rugby ball around (who packs a rugby ball fro Anzac day? Of course our culture does!) and on top of this Logan and I bumped into another friend form uni!!!! Pretty crazy, we also saw Sarah and Christian again (they were on a different bus) so we all got to sit together in the stands for the service. My favourite thing about travelling is the fact that you can meet perfect strangers from NZ and Aus and just bond immediately - Sarah and I were sitting together all night, arms around each other keeping warm and chatting away to everyone like we had been friends for years - were all away from home and you can't help but feel homesick when you are surrounded by Aussies and Kiwis and watching documentaries all night on these young, innocent lads that lost their lives in such an unnecessary, pointless war. We saw letters written to loved ones, re-enactments of families being told their sons weren't coming home and when your away from home yourself its even harder - it was one of the best experiences of my life though and we all supported each other - we were just so proud to be there representing our countries and paying respects to all the brave men that perished on the very hill we were sitting on - and the ones that survived. Anyone who survived the horrific circumstances of that war would never be the same again.

I was one of the only ones from my bus that stayed awake the entire night. I thought, how often do you get a chance to come to Gallipoli for Anzac day? Its a once in a lifetime event and I didn't want to miss a minute of it. I got to see the sunrise on my birthday, in Gallipoli and its something I will never ever forget. After 12 hours the dawn service commenced and it was really something to see. When it finished we began our 6.2km walk up hill (even at 7am the day was really warming up so we had to stop a few times to remove all our layers!) to where the Kiwi service was being held and again this was something special. We got to sing our national anthem twice in one morning and it meant so much for me to be able to do this. I'm so glad that I did Gallipoli this year - last year I wouldn't have appreciated being surrounded by my fellow Kiwis and Aussies - we are truly such a unique group of people and really come together to support each other no matter where we are in the world.

After the service there is up to a 4 hour wait for the bus to come but somehow our cheeky tour leader managed to arrive in under an hour after the service! We were all exhausted so got on the bus and headed off to Ayvalik where you would think we would have an early night - but since it was mine and Logans birthday it didn't quite turn out that way!!

Anzac Day in Gallipoli was definitely the highlight of my trip. Every single Kiwi and Aussie should experience this remarkable service and pay their respects at least once in their lives. I feel its something I will go back and do again when I am older. I had no idea of the true story behind Anzac Day and over 120,000 soldiers lost their lives. One out of every three that came off the boats on arrival were instantly shot dead and the next 8 months were spent in trenches through the coldest winters and hottest summers - they advanced just 200 meters up the hill in 8 months. We watched a documentary on the bus a few days later and the exact details and actual photos from the event will never leave my memory. Over the past year I have seen such disturbing imagery and learnt of some the most inhumane events that have occurred throughout history - as well as visiting the sites where they all actually happened - but I have made myself watch and learn because if human beings just like you and I actually went through these unthinkable times the least we can do is learn about what happened and help ensure that it never happens again.