OMG … I DID IT way way down under on the OTHER side of the world .. hint; “Kia Ora”
June was a month of adventure (to say the very least!).
However, I was quite busy with ‘normal’ events and engagements on home turf.
Organized and executed a summit meeting for one of my many prestigious clients at none other than “la GRAND Dame” Ritz Carlton Montreal – they are such PROFESSIONALS and it’s wonderful working with them.
Within that same week was also the GRAND PRIX F1. Hubby and I were privileged to attend the “F1 Party” at the Ritz Carlton (it was nice).
Then the morning after, I whipped myself together to instruct a new batch of future wedding planners for WPIC (Wedding Planners Institute of Canada).
And if that wasn’t enough, right after that … we honored with tickets to see Mr. SCARFACE himself Al Pacino (interesting at best, he was all over the place lol!).
On the school front (Lasalle College), I invited a wonderful guest speaker (and friend) to share her experiences with my students, Nathalie Mailhot.
Ouff just writing about this I realize and understand how people wonder how do I manage all this stuff!!!
However, my BIG ADVENTURE began when I travelled wayyyy down under on the other side of the world for business.
As you know by now, I travel quite a bit. This is all in the name of research and development. I’m basically always on the “hunt” for new exciting destinations for my growing Incentive business.
Well this month by far (pun totally intended) was truly a SPECTACULAR place:
New Zealand was my destination and what a destination it was; True, it’s quite a long trip but it was worth it; started with YUL to LAX, pretty much an uneventful normal 6-hour east coast to west coast flight. Once in LAX we were provided access to the VIP Lounge (OMG what a lounge it was). Not only was it LARGE and SPACIOUS but it had everything one wanted;
| Modern outside terrace spacious | Movie Room |
| Comfy Lounge area | Dining space |
| Showers | Bistro Space |
| Media section | Sleep/Rest Space |
Etc…. (I could go on but I think you get the picture)
I’m telling you: WOW! You see, once we got to LAX we had a long long long layover so the VIP lounge was PERFECT; we worked a little – drank and ate – watched a movie – took in some air – drank a little more – ate a little more – networked a lot – did some more drinking and ate some more food …
Then the time came that we needed to board our plane Air New Zealand – what a fantastic, fantastic, airline. From the staff to the comfy business class pods – WOW! Like someone said to me; “honey once you fly Air New Zealand there is no turning back!!!” (SO SO TRUE). This flight was 12hrs long and I did not feel it (slept like a baby – ate and drank like a queen).
Once we arrived in Aukland, New Zealand, we were treated to all kinds of activities and adventures…
To start we where whisked away via Excalibur Cars to a marina where we boarded the largest SuperYacht to one of the islands nearby; Waiheke Island, New Zealand
Once on the island we took a Skyline Gondola Ride up one of many surrounding mountains, had a gourmet lunch and where immediately encouraged to engage in Lugging. Here is an example of what was like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df1fT0Ut2v4
Once all that was done we were picked up by helicopters and roamed the wonderful mountains of New Zealand – the views of these mountains and water were breathtaking (ahhh to be back there).
The “Heli” landed on a summit where there were several Land Rovers Defenders waiting to take us on our next adventure.
We drove through the mountains and water (literally) somehow ended up ‘digging for gold nuggets’ in this stream … we eventually worked up a thrust and appetite where we were brought to one of the many vineyards out here; Mudbrick Vineyard and Restaurant not only did we drink they also prepared a feast for us to eat. Ohh and for ‘desert’ we went to a wine cave where some wine tasting was required; Stonyridge Vineyards (we really where drinking the wine, but I digress…) Fun Fact: it’s amazing how many wineries there are considering their climate.
Once all was done we headed back to the hosted hotel Sofitel, Queenstown for some down time to either shop, rest, or all of the above.
So one would think, “WOW Daniela, that sounded like a GREAT time.” Well yes it was absolutely … however the “adventures” continued. We were once again whisked off by plane hopping from island to island to discover more marvelous places. We were invited to board a speed boat from Auckland Jet Boat Tours Ltd. to cross the waters onto an area where more adventures awaited; some of us went zip-lining and some of us went bungy jumping – YES, bungy jumping all set up around the infamous Kawarau Bridge Bungy (43m)
Guess what I ended up doing??? (Hint: it’s related to the blog’s title) Well here is the link to show you:
https://www.montrealeventplanner.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/AJH-KB-20150614-012-001-0001-Vid01.mp4
OUUUUFFFFFFFAAAAA – I STILL don’t believe I REALLY did that!?!?!
Ok, back down to “earth” once all that excitement was done and over with, we went to visit Hobbiton Movie Set Tours in another part of spectacularly wonderful New Zealand it’s a small town called Rotorua . This is where movies like the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings were actually filmed (I felt I was transported into that time). They turned it into an official visitors attraction for people to come visit from all over.
WOW what a great place this is… incentive clients: hope are you reading this?!?
And now it’s going to be quiet till end of July. So shhh! See you soon!
R&R time …. “Ka kite ano” y’all …
