Natural beauty

Sophie Bond talks to Miss North Shore about her Miss Earth NZ hopes.
Crouched beneath a canopy of bush, showing seedlings she helped plant last month, Ashleigh Allport has brought along her towering crown and Miss North Shore sash for the photo - but no high heels or glamour gown?
"No way," says Ashleigh with a smile, "I couldn't plant trees in that."
The 20-year-old from Stanmore Bay won the Miss North Shore title in April and is now eyeing her next pageant, Miss Earth New Zealand.
In preparation for this pageant, which has an environmental focus, Ashleigh is looking for community projects she can help with.
Here, at Standish Reserve in Northcote, she's joined a North Shore City Council tree-planting day and, this week, she's working on the Little Shoal Bay stream enhancement.
Ever-the-ready pageant contestant, Ashleigh is well-prepared to answer questions about the project.
"Many of the streams in Auckland run through people's properties so, in this project, the North Shore City Council is working with the landowners to plant trees and clean up streams. It's so that we can have clean water for our beaches."
As Miss North Shore, Ashleigh has no official commitments but is keen to be involved in several community efforts. She says the Miss Earth contests are much like other beauty pageants but with an environmental focus in the  judges' questions.
"The Miss Earth World competition is held in Vietnam this year and contestants will do a lot of environmental work there."
Ashleigh remembers seeing the Miss Universe contest on television when she was younger and wanting to do the same. She has held the Miss Hibiscus Coast title and was first runner-up for the 2009 Miss Earth New Zealand pageant.
"The best thing about pageants is meeting all the other girls and we usually do a whole bunch of events and fundraising."
Ashleigh majors in marketing and management at Auckland University and is considering a career in web-based marketing.
She says people's perception of beauty pageants can be frustrating. "Some people think it's just walking around looking good, but there's so much work and there's a lot of behind-the-scenes things. We work really hard to put on a good show for people and have months of practise."
Mirror, mirror
Ashleigh is looking for other projects with environmental themes to join. Organisers can email her at ashallport@hotmail.com
The Miss Earth New Zealand Pageant will be held at the Life Convention Centre, Mangere, on September 25.