Wearable Art creator Susie Moncrieff describes her concept of taking art off the walls and onto the catwalk as a “glamorous rebellion against the mundane - a visual feast where you enter a world of dreams and fantasies and witness an extraordinary procession”. So, in this uniquely New Zealand show's 20th year, it was the lucky Lin Kuang and I that were invited to Nelson and Wellington to see this spectacle for ourselves.

We began our travels in Nelson, in the north of New Zealand's South Island. Nelson is the original home of the wearable art concept but now must be happy with hosting the World of Wearable Art and Classic Cars Museum after the event was moved to Wellington in 2005. Nelsonians are still fuming about losing out to the big city.

Nelson has a population of 42,000 and is an artist's mecca, with over 300 working artists who happily open their studio doors to art connoisseurs and novices alike. The town also has a healthy wine making industry, more boutique in size compared to the mass production that goes on over the hill in the well-known wine making region of Marlborough. While Lin was treated to a cooking class, I was shown the ins and outs of winemaking by Wietski van der Pol of Waimea Estate. Details of the day become fuzzy after that.

Nelson is also the gateway to Abel Tasman National Park, named after the first European who came to the area in 1642. Tasman and his crew were promptly chased away by a Waka-load of Maori without ever setting foot on land. Surrounded by water, exploring the park ensures seals and penguins are part of the sightseeing until the Abel Taxman Aqua Taxi – 80% owned by the enterprising Ngâi Tahu tribe – drops adventurers off at any number of beaches to begin trekking. I'm sure Lin and I would have loved to hike but we had lunch at the beautiful Awaroa Lodge instead - another time maybe, wearing another pair of shoes.

Leaving Nelson, it was onwards and upwards in a small plane to a rough descent and landing at Wellington airport. 'Windy Wellington' is a moniker famous throughout the country. While it's great for generating renewable energy through the regions wind-farm projects, it's bad for hair and absolutely devastating for umbrellas.

The world's southernmost capital city sits between the restless Pacific and Australian tectonic plates and is just waiting for the next big earthquake, which is now officially overdue. It's no wonder then that the city's hardy residents are living for the moment, enjoying all that Wellington has to offer. Per capita, Wellington has the highest number of cafes than any city in the world and while it's cold, I'm sure most Wellingtonians would prefer visitors to think of their city as cold-yet-cultural. The city is home to the New Zealand Ballet and the Symphony Orchestra and the Museum of New Zealand - Te Papa.

We explored the small city on foot via a treasure hunt-type trail organised by Absolutely Positively Wellington Tourism. After our efforts, we were rewarded with a performance by the hilarious dance troupe the 'Real Hot Bitches'. Let's just say I won't think of Bon Jovi's 'You Give Love A Bad Name' again without envisioning fluorescent leotard wearing, over lipsticked, big haired women – and men. Shot through the heart, and they're to blame.

On the penultimate night of our trip we finally got to experience the much-anticipated WOW (World of Wearable Art) show for ourselves. The show has seven sections, from Children's to South Pacific and my absolute favourite, the Bizarre Bra section – some worn by very secure men.

This year the show attracted 300 entries, with 189 creations chosen, a third of which came from overseas. The show can best be described as Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge meets Cirque de Soleil with a few drag queens thrown in just because. Susie Moncrieff wasn't wrong when she labelled it a “sensory feast” at the following day's press conference. This years' supreme winner was 'Ornitho-Maia – The Bird Mother', skilfully crafted using wet moulded leather by Nadine Jaggi. Jaggi now works at Wellington-based director Peter Jackson's Weta Workshop and funnily enough, we went to the same high school.

Thanks to Nelson Tasman Tourism’s Astrid Fisher and the ever helpful and enthusiastic Sarah Keenan from Tourism New Zealand. Sarah went above and beyond the call of duty in modelling Lord of the Rings style elf ears at the request of snap happy journalists - what a star!