We leave Central Park and head down the motorway to our first stop. We’ll point out a few places of interest as we drive south, catching glimpses of the Waikato River - the old Huntly Power Station, Taupiri Mountain and on to the amazing Hamilton Gardens just as it's bursting forth into springtime.

There are 18 themed gardens and we have time to wander among many of them and along the woodland pathways. The Mansfield Garden is a relatively recent addition inspired by Katherine Mansfield's short story "The Garden Party" which was set in Wellington. In two days' time we will be visiting Katherine's own childhood home in Thornton.

Out in the countryside near Te Awamutu we stop for lunch with Penny Diprose at Rosenvale (we’ll arrange for a glass of wine to accompany it) .

From Rosenvale we head for Taupo, calling into the Huka Falls along the way. No matter how many times I stop here, I'm always amazed at the spectacle of the mighty Waikato River surging through the narrow chasm and the amazing colour of the water. 

In Taupo there's no better place to stay than right on the lakeside at The Millennium Hotel and Resorts Manuels. The keen walkers are always take a stroll along the lake path before dinner and sitting in the dining room, looking out over the lake, at sunset is magic.

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After a reasonably leisurely start we head skirt along Lake Taupo's shoreline to Turangi and onto the Desert Road, making photo stops for the snowcapped mountains of the Central Plateau - Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro. We take a coffee break at Waiouru, which boasts the highest railway station in New Zealand at over 800m above sea level, and possibly the coldest!  Any soldier who ever trained here should have been given a medal for bravery just for staying the distance.

The Wool Company store at Utiku is a chance to buy some quality New Zealand-made merino wool clothing and just a few kilometres further south we stop for lunch at MOOMAA Cafe and Design Store where there's a wide variety of merchandise to tempt you too. 

We head further south to Bulls (where there will be a little competition to spot the terrible puns playing upon the town’s name), before passing Ohakea RNZAF base.

And for anybody with a touch of Dutch courage, oops, Dutch blood, you’ll feel right at home in the Foxton and Levin areas. After WW2 numerous settlers from the Netherlands, keen to escape the hardships of war-ravaged Europe, made their way to the Manawatu and Rangitikei areas where they often took up horticulture and dairying. There’s a full-size replica 17th century Dutch windmill in Foxton, de Molen, and a street-side statue of a worker hoeing vegetables in Levin, both acknowledging the contribution of Dutch immigrants to this region. 

By the time we get to Kapiti we’re onto the Kapiti Expressway which links up with the new Transmission Gully Motorway into Wellington where we stay at the ever delightful Bolton Hotel. This place is a treasure and they usually have a few of the past WOW costumes on display in the foyer. The staff are wonderful – friendly, ever helpful and keen to make your stay a pleasure.  And their restaurant, where we dine this evening, has excellent cuisine – just what we need at the end of the day.

Now we’re in the Capital, WOW fever will be evident. This is a huge event for the city. It all started in 1987 in Nelson but after a couple of years it quickly outgrew its origins and in 2005 it shifted to the Capital. Now it attracts 60,000 people over its three week run – an amazing achievement for a show started by Dame Suzie Moncrieff in a tent at Wakefield, near Nelson, playing to 200 people! Read more about the history of the WOW here.

This morning we check out the city. We start in Thorndon, taking a privately guided tour of the recently restored Katherine Mansfield House and heritage garden for an insight into the early life of the house's most famous occupant. We lunch nearby at the Thistle Inn, the oldest public house in Wellington, it has its own Mansfield connections as we will hear on our guided tour.

In the afternoon we’ll drive to the museums and galleries and up Mt Victoria or just enjoy the shopping along Lambton Quay. You can do all three or just one or two. We’ll arrange a “circuit of the sights” to allow for each and everyone of you to get to where you would like to go.

Then back to the hotel, time to freshen up and don the glad rags for the big event.  As befitting such a spectacle, we have the opportunity tonight at WOW to wear our finest. This takes effort, meaning we’ll need to start with dinner beforehand. So, leaving the hotel at 5pm we’ll drive to near the door of Dockside Restaurant and take our table for dinner on the waterfront. 

Just metres away from the restaurant, the atmosphere down at the wharf and in front of the TSB is wonderful. Artists, jugglers and performers mingle with the crowds, stilt walkers may be there, mime artists, dance troupes; all proud to be a part of this awesome occasion and to add to the atmosphere. There will be opportunities to get a photo of them - and with them.

Then at 7pm we head into the Arena (the two hour show starts at 7.30pm), pick up our WOW programmes in the foyer, and take our Platinum seats – the best available. Settle back to be treated to a spectacle that provides a feast for eyes and ears, a challenge for the mind and a memory overwhelmed by so many images. It never ceases to amaze me where the artists that contribute their creations get their inspiration from. Some are stunning, others funny, many very clever, a few obscure but all fascinate and provoke the imagination.

But it’s not just the costumes. There’s the choreography (a spectacle on its own), the sound and light displays and the special effects that add drama, suspense and comedy to the whole performance – WOW! 

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After the euphoria of the WOW Show last evening, it’s another filling breakfast at the Bolton and then we head north up the Hutt Valley and over the Remutaka Range to Greytown.

In the beautiful Wairarapa Valley, Greytown is one of a series of agricultural towns settled by "small farmers" in the 1860s. Greytown, named after the then Governor of New Zealand, George Grey, has in recent years remodelled itself as a town of boutique shops, antique dealers and gourmet foods. An iconic building is the White Swan Hotel, and upon seeing it, it is hard to believe it was a former NZ Railways administration building. We’ll stop here long enough for "coffee and comfort, browse and buy".

The whole Wairarapa area is really starting to make an impact as a wine growing region, centred around the district of Martinborough, with the speciality wines being pinot noir and chardonnay. Nowadays, the bustling township has several dozen wineries in its vicinity, and the annual Toast Martinborough wine festival attracts around 10,000 visitors every November.

We continue through the northern Wairarapa, into southern Hawke's Bay and onto Gwavas Homestead in Tikokino. This place is just living history – a magnificent homestead set in acres of gardens and woodlands. Our hosts are Stuart and Phyllida, a wonderful couple, and over lunch Stuart willingly shares his knowledge of the history and stories of their home. Then Stuart takes us on a guided tour of the house, with both the history and "restoration work in progress" explained, and we finish with a "walkabout" in the garden. Now, I’m sure I’ll be able to find a cheeky little wine for you to have with lunch, making the perfect introduction to the Hawke's Bay. 

Napier is about an hour's drive away. We check into the Scenic Te Pania Hotel, overlooking Marine Parade, the ocean and the iconic sculpture of Pania of the Reef and dine in the hotel's restaurant this evening.

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Napier, of course, is famous for the Art Deco rebuild after the 1931 Earthquake which destroyed much of the original town, but by far the most damage was done by the terrible fires that followed. The Art Deco architectural style was popular at the time and Napier is now recognised as one of the world’s outstanding examples of that style. So what better way to appreciate it than a tour with our local guide pointing out the details and intricacies of the Art Deco fashion in the buildings around the West Quay and central city? But it’s not just the architecture that amazes – the stories of the landscape changes the earthquake wrought, the assistance given by sailors from HMS Veronica, the remodelling of the harbour at Ahuriri, the rapid re-establishment of the retailing sector – all combine to add interest and appeal.

But such a concentration of the mind can be exhausting and so we will follow this up with lunch at a winery and some wine tasting! I mean, we are in Hawke's Bay, renowned throughout New Zealand and the world as one of our premiere wine regions, so it would be rude not to sample the wares of such welcoming hosts.

The lunch platters they serve at Church Road Winery Restaurant are superb – lots of tasty local foods with a little something for everyone, combined with a glass of local vino.

Then we’ll take the long road home – up the valley of the Tukituki River, cross over and drive back down the eastern side, past even more vineyards, out to Clifton for a look and then home via Clive to our hotel. If time permits, we may take a drive up Bluff Hill for a spectacular, "birds eye" view of Port Napier, literally rescued by the rubble of the hill it adjoins. 

When we return to town there will be time to stroll the waterfront along Marine Parade. For the keen ones, directly across the road from the hotel is the Ocean Spa, a pool complex that's great for a swim, soak or spa before dinner.

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This is our final day of our tour and we’ll be back in Auckland this evening, but we’ve got a few stops before that happens.

There are a few stories we can tell as we head for Taupo and on to Moondance Manor at Tamahere, near Hamilton, for our lunch. This place is a true delight to visit with its beautiful gardens bordering the Waikato River. The jewel in the crown is, of course, the elegant two story Edwardian Manor house which complements the grandeur of the garden. It's easy to see why Moondance Manor Garden has featured in the NZ Gardener, The Waikato Times, The NZ Women's Weekly and NZ House and Garden magazines.

Once away from here, and that in itself is not easy as everyone usually wants to linger, we head for Auckland and our Central Park destination. And that ends a great 6-days of touring and companionship with memories not only of the unimaginable talent of the WOW exhibitors, but of the gardens and sights we have seen together on the tour. See you again? Next year!

Scroll through some recent tour pictures below:

Visit the official World of WearableArt website

Read our article 10 Questions about the World of WearableArt Show

Read our article on the History of the World of WearableArt Show