“We both really love to talk & share our professional travel experiences“, Saskia and I smile, beaming at the audience. Our travel talk about the “love of our (travel) lifetime”, AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND, is now being repeated following the huge success of its first edition last year. After all, first-hand travel tips, practical bits & pieces, visa information etc. are always much sought after! Once more, the adult education institute of the Volkshochschule Krems invites us to share our insights & expertise with (young) travellers from near & far.
How do I book a trip down under? Where & how can I apply for a New Zealand visa? What should I know before travelling? And how are they really, those KIWIs?!
Questions that my colleague & friend Saskia Faltus and I just love answering! And answering we did, thinking back fondly of our first travel talk together a few months ago, even causing our “guest of honour”, a real Kiwi lady, to feel proud (and homesick) again!
New Zealand … “love of a travel lifetime”. Still thinking back fondly at the relaxed weekend vibes during my #winelover #foodlover visit of the Kiwi capital, Wellington at the beginning of this year ..!
They are very relaxed after all, those Kiwis … such as here having “potluck picknick” in the park near Nelson, on top of New Zealand’s South Island …
… or enjoying a good glass of wine (or two): Prost to a Gewürztraminer in Auckland!
Following my recent #CreativElenaRTW trip round the world, my travel talk about New Zealand will mostly focus on creative culture travel as well as … “natural travel delights” down under!
The nature of New Zealand is a wild, unruled beauty unlike nowhere else on Earth. To immerse yourself in it can definitely be called a highlight of any of your trips to this particular dream destination. Around New Year, I have therefore embarked on a journey of a kind: I walked the so-called Heaphy Track “Great Walk” on its entire length of 80 kilometres, 2.000 metres up & down over three and a half days … Besides growing blisters, I also grew a lot of pride and recognition from my fellow travellers. Read more about how this epic trail made me feel and who / what it allowed me to meet & greet along the way.
The power of New Zealand nature is palpable even from high up in the air: Take in this view across the country’s famous West Coast of the South Island, one of New Zealand’s top travel destinations.
Only a little later, I have landed myself on the ground here …
… hiking across this truly breathtaking (postcard) scenery.
Besides all these intimate & rather adventurous nature journeys, I do admit to enjoying a great cup of coffee every now and then ..!
But the fun does not stop here. Those of you who know “CreativElena” will know that no journey ends without having met the (real) locals …!
Cracking cockles for dinner with the Maori people. Cooking my Austrian signature dish, Kaiserschmarren, for them in return! Celebrating Christmas with dear friends over a picknick in the park, so different from back home … and learning how to make my own bone carving souvenir! I just love sharing intimate culture travel accounts like these in my travel talks. Talking about the special people I met, such as my Maori friend Ngahuia or the local bone carving artist Stephan. And did you know that when landing in Wellington, New Zealand, the Great Eagles are actually there to … land & greet you, too?!
You see. Some things, you still need to travel for in order to believe them. Everything else, Saskia and I are going to tell you: Come & join us for our travel talk “Work & Travel” among the Kiwis at the Volkshochschule Krems: On Wednesday, 18 March 2015 at 7.30 p.m.! We look forward to seeing you there!
Not messing with you: Giant Eagles are there to greet you in Wellington, New Zealand … !
As well as “giant bones” A little further south, in the city of Nelson, we are taught the Maori tradition of fashioning bones (originally those of whales!) into beautiful little ornaments during a creative bone carving workshop!
Being creative means getting hungry: Love devouring heaps of those delicious cockle shells, a true Kiwi delicacy!
My dear friend Ngahuia has me in good hands …
… Ngahuia, who thanks to running her own eco-cultural tourism business has me join her on one of New Zealand’s most popular days walk, the great “Tongariro Crossing” – a day walk that truly deserves being called one of the world’s most popular and beautiful day walks!
Thank you for all the love & good vibes, New Zealand! See you soon again my dear!