I was voted to bodypaint myself in the NZ flag and visit the Statue of Liberty so I contacted local bodypainters (it's a proper profession here), I posted a job ad on TaskRabbit and I talked to artist friends in the US about making it happen. I set my date, September 30 which was lucky because the following day monuments and parks across America were shut down because president Barack Obama and congressional Republican leaders couldn't agree on a state funding deal.

I cycled around the bottom of Manhattan Island on my Spinlister rented bike (think airbnb for bicycles) and caught the boat to Liberty Island. 

Tilt your head 90 degrees for full effect.

Lucky I made it the day before the 'Shut-down'.

There are times on this journey where my vision is far more grandiose than my reality.

For a combination of reasons, it ended up just me, some children's halloween face paint and a tiny cosmetics mirror in the bathroom of a rocking boat on the way to Liberty Island. 

The quality was poor, I looked like the kid who clearly had no adult help or supervision with their school art project but luckily I'm not embarrassed easily.

What my body paint was lacking, Miss Liberty more than made up for and while I looked ridiculous it felt good to be in the company of another Patriotic lady. I was in awe of her size, her grace and her far reaching influence.

Anyone who tells you it's just as good to see her from the Statten Island ferry, clearly has never made the journey. It was my highlight of New York.

There's a great museum on the island that explains the enormous engineering challenges and a free audio tour that talks about her purpose and history.

Hot Tip: If you want to go up to the base and inside the museum you HAVE to get a ticket before leaving Manhattan. The tickets are free but they only allocate a certain number each day and there's no way to get one when you're out there.

So here are my 10 curly facts about the Statue of Liberty:

1. The seven spikes on her crown represent the seven continents of the world and the universal concept of liberty.
2. She became the symbol of immigration during the second half of the 19th century, as over 9m immigrants came to the United States, she was the first thing they saw when arriving by boat.
3. The exterior copper skin is less than two pennies thick and the light green color is the result of natural weathering of the copper.
4. She was a gift from France, given to America in 1886 as a celebration of both the union’s victory in the American Revolution, and the abolition of slavery. (see broken shackles at her feet)
5. If Lady Liberty went into a shoe store she'd have to ask for a size 879 shoe.
6. No dieting here – she has a 35-foot waistline.
7. The man who designed the Eiffel Tower also designed Liberty’s ‘spine’; four iron columns supporting a metal framework that holds the thin copper skin. It allows the statue to move slightly in the winds of New York Harbor and as the metal expanded on hot summer days. Good job, Gustave Eiffel!
8. In high winds of 50mph Lady Liberty can sway by up to 3 inches, while her torch can move 5 inches.
9. She gets hit by lightning approximately 600 times per year
10. Her big toenail is about 10x the size of my head.