While most of my friends may find it hard to believe, I CAN get up early when I have to. Here’s proof – the dawn sky yesterday, as I left for Wellington. Isn’t it lovely? Slightly foggy and almost ethereal.

The reason I left so early? Destination Wairarapa invited Fantail Grove to be one of their ‘tasting partners’ at the Women’s Expo. They choose a different providore from the Wairarapa to share the stand each day. It means they can be located in the popular food section, and also attracts people to the stand. So glad they invited us this year!

To say it’s a “lifestyle” expo is an accurate summary. There were exhibits from service organisations like Women’s Refuge, Hearing NZ, and Breast Cancer NZ; stands from financial and life planners; products for the home and garden; educational institutions for women and their daughters; clothing, jewellery and other accessories; lots and lots of yummy food and drink – and other products that defy categorisation! It was a feast of colour and the buzz of conversations between visitors and stall-holders was constant.

Barbara (of Destination Wairarapa) and our stand at the beginning of the day – it didn’t look quite so tidy after a day of tasting, brochure-collecting and competition entry form-filling!

Although it would be hard to spot any in this picture, there were some men brave enough to attend – and some of the stalls were being operated by men (the one next to us was being run by a mother-and-son combination – not so unusual you might think, but the son was only 11 and he did an awesome job!).

After a day of this I was absolutely exhausted! I haven’t even unpacked the car yet – that will be a job for Monday. So thankful that I have tomorrow off work to recover further – but I also have to say that I enjoyed every minute of the expo and meeting so many lovely people.