Miss Rotorua 2024: Simrandeep Kaur wins the crown

“I wanted to win at least one crown, any crown,” she told the Rotorua Daily Post.

She was one of 20 contestants who competed in the pageants Miss Congeniality, Miss Community, Miss Personality and more. She said waiting for her name to be called was “not a great feeling, but I thought, OK, hopefully I’ll get something.”

Miss Rotorua’s second runner-up was Haylee Van der Maat and the first runner-up was Amiamor Harrison.

Kaur said she wasn’t exactly an outgoing person before entering the competition when she worked at accounting firm BDO in Rotorua as part of the audit team.

“I prefer to stay in my room and do something at home instead of going out.

“I’m not really the first one to go up and talk to other people. If I meet someone new, I stay away. It takes me time to warm up,” Kaur said.

The eight weeks of training with other contestants leading up to the final night, including practicing walking in heels, taking etiquette lessons and practicing group interviews, allowed Kaur to come out of her shell.

“My sister was involved two years ago and saw her shine there. She has always been an outgoing person but she has improved a lot and gone through some changes in her personality (after becoming Miss Rotorua).

“That made me become like her and improve myself.”

Kaur said the experience with the Miss Rotorua Foundation had “changed” her.

“It was a great experience because there were other participants, they encouraged you and pointed out where you could improve,” said Kaur.

Kaur was born and raised in India, but moved to New Zealand four years ago.

“Rotorua has been my home ever since,” said Kaur.

She wore a traditional Indian lehenga (two-piece dress) during the evening round and said she was proud to represent her culture at the pageant.

“It’s a very proud moment for me to go there and let people know that India is diverse. You will find so many cultures and so many types of people.

“Just like in New Zealand, you meet people from all over the world, with all different cultures, and they bring everyone together.

“Miss Rotorua does that too,” said Kaur.

Presenting the largest crown to last year’s winner, Pareuruora Rangirangi, Kaur said she was looking forward to meeting more people in the community next year and being called Miss Rotorua.

“I would tell everyone to love yourself. Love everyone around you. Help everyone, help yourself and just enjoy your life,” Kaur said.

A full list of winners will be available soon.

Aleyna Martinez is a multimedia journalist based in the Bay of Plenty.