Beauty contest shifts to Kerikeri

Last year's Miss Far North was Danielle Collings from Mangonui.

The annual Miss Far North beauty competition is moving south.

For the past four years the competition has been held in Kaitaia but organiser Alarnya Garton said the decision to move the event to Kerikeri was made because the town is more central.

"Many of the girls who enter come from Whangarei and Kerikeri as well as Kaitaia, so we decided it would be less travelling for most of the contestants if it was moved to the middle of the region."

The event will be held in the Turner Centre on October 15 and Miss Far North is currently calling for girls aged under 13 who can enter Miss Little Far North and those 13- 25 to enter Miss Far North.

Last year's winner was 21-year-old Danielle Collings, from Mangonui, who works at the Far North's newspaper The Northland Age. She was a reluctant entrant at first.

"I thought I would just have a bit of fun and enter. What I really liked about the show was meeting the other girls, learning a dance and getting all glammed up together on the night of the show. I've made some lovely friends out of it all," she said.

Her main prize was a scholarship beauty consultancy course at Evolution School of Beauty in Whangarei. This year anyone booking to attend the Miss Far North Kerikeri event before September 11 will go into the draw to win a three-course dinner voucher for two at The Lodge, Kauri Cliffs.