In November I made my annual pilgrimage to Oamaru for their annual Victorian Heritage Celebrations. Which was, as usual, a fantastic few days – even though I got sick on the Saturday (I blame the weather).
I arrived earlier in the week before all the events kicked off, meaning that I was floating around, taking some photos and videos of my new dresses when I was asked if I wanted to pop down to the Gardens for a group photo. Sure, I said, and made my way there, only to find it was a photo being taken for the paper. My dress was accidentally attributed to the Victorian Wardrobe instead of myself but I think the more unfortunate thing about the article was the optimism about the weather for the Garden Party (which was cancelled due to a whole bucketfuls of rain)
Myself and some of my friends arrived earlier in the week before all of the events kicked off and it was great to be able to hang out and catch up with them before they all started and became a whirlwind.
The first event we attended was a Murder Mystery Dinner, which was incredibly entertaining with the characters and the different scenes and evidence we had to work with. With the evidence, witness statements, crime scene, and evidence, we were able to solve the crime (Murder weapon – frozen chicken! Motive – to cover up a previous murder). It was also the perfect opportunity to wear my new Black Widow Dress.
Friday was a day of rain – a lot of rain – which meant it was very much an indoor day. Which was okay as the ball practice and the morning tea were indoor events anyway. The Garden Party had to be cancelled, but my friends and I had secured tickets for the Costume Talks and Bazaar at the Junction Hotel, which is slowly being restored to it’s former glory and is looking quite good after years of work. We got to see some extant garments that a couple of ladies had in their collection and our corner of the room (all costumers) kept getting excited over each garment as we took in all the details and made mental notes for future use. I think that we all left the Bazaar with at least one purchase of trims or fabric, and it was so fun to help each other out when we spotted something we knew they would like.
Mum arrived in the afternoon so I met up with her before it was time to get myself ready for the ball. Which was just as wonderful as ever, and I was definitely up on the dancefloor for more than half of the evening.
Saturday was the busy day for me, as I had to check the set-up in the hall for the Fashion Show before getting my group (Historical Costuming NZ) assembled for the Grand Parade. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining, but it was on the cool side and a bit windy (I blame this for my getting sick). Mum joined us as an honorary member of the group (wearing the outfit I made her a couple of years ago) and it was nice to meet some new group members in person too. I did abandon my duties partway along the route after I spotted my very good friends who had brought their wee ones down to watch it and I just needed to run over for hugs and a hello since I hadn’t seen them in a year. It didn’t take long to join back up with my group though 😊
After the parade it was all business for me, getting everything finalised in the hall for the Fashion Show, and doing a run through with all of my lovely participants before it was showtime. Apart from stumbling over a few of my words, and a minor hiccup with a wrong dress coming out at the wrong time, it went really well and without a doubt has been the best show that I’ve produced and presented so far. So I’m really happy about that, though I have decided to give myself a year off from it next year since this was my third in a row and it is a lot of work.
I had a lot of fun at the Miner’s Hooley that night and was definitely up dancing even more than I had at the ball. Despite having a sore throat by that point, I was still enjoying myself but was definitely aware that I was going to pay for it later. Which I definitely did. The most fun dance that evening was Buffalo Girls and I am really quite surprised that I didn’t slip over while running in circles (I’m sure youtube will have a video of this dance somewhere or come and ask me why a dance involves running in circles)
Sunday was Fete Day, and I only survived because of the cold and flu tablets and multiple strepsils. I was stopped so many times by people who wanted to take my photo, and talk to me either about my dress or the Fashion Show and it is very hard to be nice and polite when you’re not feeling 100% but there was still plenty of time to hang out with my friends, hiding away in a café. I also got to spend a lot of time with my friends and their wee ones, who had all dressed up for the day (and looked so incredibly adorable!).
There was another dance that afternoon and I gave a couple of the dances ago before bowing out (I was exhausted from being so social all while battling my sore throat) and just watching everybody else. Afterwards my friends and I went out for dinner at the Criterion, which was the loveliest way to end the week, and to prolong having to return to Reality.
