It has now come to an end, but what a fantastic conference it has been. I have learnt so much about peoples work and met some really wonderful people and made valuable connections with them. I also had the opportunity to speak myself about the orchid project which had some incredible feedback about how brilliant the project is but also about how I spoke at such a young age! The picture shows myself along with Gerrit Van Ede to the left who I must say a massive thank you to for organising such a successful conference and on my right I had the privilege to meet Professor Rapee who is 93 years old and has been working with orchids most of his life and gave an inspirational talk. I also need to say a massive thank you to the people who got me to South Africa in the first place and this is to Cheltenham and District Orchid Society, Bournemouth Orchid Society, The Sperring Trust, all the wonderful people who donating at my fathers funeral and of course to Simon Pugh-Jones and the Writhlington Orchid Project..thank you so much for this opportunity! Now I have travelled down the George, a small city on the Southern Coast of South Africa and so far I have seen stunning mountains on one side and fantastic coastline on the other…will keep you informed!

In the hall they have the orchids displays of the conference, there are some stunning displays and the hall is filled with the beautiful scent of orchids. This very large display here was occupied with a number if waterfalls and water feature and absolutely covered in blankets of orchid flowers. There is also a stunning Ansellia display built upon rocks and is displayed fantastically.

The orchid project has gone travelling again..well Zoe Parfitt has! I am spending the week here in Johannesburg as I am attending the World Orchid Congress with my presentation The Writhlington School Orchid Project – A Students Perspective. I was welcomed off my flight with cloudless skies and beaming sunshine, my nerves of travelling alone have definitely been replaced with excitement. Now at my stunning hotel, which is definitely spoiling me, I am meeting everyone tonight at the opening of the congress.

For the past three weeks I have been living and doing work experience at the Eden Project in Cornwall. It has been an amazing experience and I have learnt so much about many other plants out there that are not orchids! I worked in many different areas of Eden including the nursery for the first week getting plants ready and growing them on to be planted in the biomes, then the other two weeks working in both the tropical and Mediterranean biomes. I have done a range of different gardening including being 20m up in a cherry picker sawing down a massive palm leaf!