Lynda Williams draws inspiration for her award-winning textiles from the Whangarei landscape and its beaches - an area she describes as the undiscovered hub of the North.
The owner and designer of Vortex Pacific Textiles, Lynda moved from Paihia to Whangarei about 15 years ago, after graduating with a diploma in textile and clothing design from Northland Polytechnic. This clever designer knew she wanted to launch her own textile brand and initially spent time in Auckland, which she thought would be the natural site for her business. But Northland’s biggest city was a more economical place to be based, and she quickly realized she would have the freedom to explore her own creativity in Whangarei. “There was no pressure to follow trends,” she recalls.
Since then, she has watched Whangarei and her business blossom at the same time. Her contemporary textiles are typically used for curtains and upholstery, printed with designs from flora and fauna that grace Whangarei’s landscape - the pod (flax) flower and the Pohutakawa tree are particularly popular among visitors who want to take something of Northland back home. “They’re all patterns that we identify with and I think that’s the secret to being successful.”
Living at Parua Bay, Lynda raves about the view from her home out across the ocean. When friends visit her, she takes them to her favourite café, “Mokaba”, at Quayside, and to two idyllic spots - Smugglers Bay, a white-sand beach fringed with pohutakawa trees, and a walking track up Kauri Mountain, in the Whangarei Heads.

“I love Whangarei’s beauty and it’s proximity to the ocean. I was surprised by the diversity of people in Whangarei and the fact that it’s so handy to everything. I’ve lived in other parts of the country and there is nowhere else like it. Whangarei has a cosmopolitan feel that’s really exciting.”