Christmases in Switzerland, red-carpet premieres in Cannes, fishing expeditions off the front deck ... Life for the super-wealthy can be pretty fabulous. But, as Rebecca Barry discovers, you don't need to be rich to lead such a covetable lifestyle.
As Mick Jagger put it, "I'm working so hard to keep you in the luxury". It's a sentiment most of us are familiar with. We spend years slogging for someone else, the fantasy of one day making like Paris Hilton and jetting off to St Tropez at the drop of a credit card remaining just that. Add the recession and a shrinking job market to this lofty ambition and it seems all the more preposterous that we'd even set foot on a superyacht, let alone cruise through the Caribbean on one.
Yet as these young Kiwis have discovered, it is possible to gain access to worlds most of us only appreciate from a distance, without the need for oodles of cash or a 20-year slog up the corporate ladder. And it's not about sponging off the wealthy or riding celebrity coat-tails. When you work for the rich and famous, leading a luxury lifestyle is just part of the job. So is it as fabulous as we might think?
Michael Ashton on dancing with Kylie
Yes, says Michael Ashton, who likes to sign his emails, "champagne kisses and caviar dreams", a line from the 1980s television show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Now 28, the Kiwi makeup artist and hairdresser can forgo the last word of his playful signature - luxury is a daily reality.
Five years since he moved to London, he now boasts a client list that includes Peaches Geldof, Elle Macpherson and Bianca Jagger. When Geldof gets invited to a store opening, party or film festival, Ashton goes too. Recently he styled the socialite for the red-carpet London premiere of the new Leonardo DiCaprio film, Inception. He has also joined her on soujourns to Cannes, Monaco and Dubai. Ashton is pop singer Adele's right-hand-man too. When she won a Brit Award in 2008, her makeup and hair stylist was by her side. He also travels regularly with actor Michael Sheen.
After establishing himself in New Zealand working for a top Auckland salon and as a key makeup artist at New Zealand Fashion Week shows, Ashton set his sights on New York, where he worked with the M.A.C Pro team, and then to Europe.
"I used to read NW magazine when I grew up in New Zealand and I'd look at the pictures of all of these Hollywood stars," he says, on the phone from his home in east London. "It just feels so far away when you're living at the bottom of the world. Now I'm in Cannes with Peaches on David Furnish's yacht, or we're at the Dolce & Gabbana party, dancing with Kylie Minogue.
"Those are things I wouldn't get to do if I wasn't doing my job. When you're living it, it does feel normal but when you actually sit back and take stock, it is very surreal."
Working for the rich and famous means travelling in style. It's business or first class on the plane and only the best of hotels on the ground. At the Cannes Film Festival with Geldof he stayed in a private villa. In Monaco, it was a seven-star waterfront hotel. At a recent trip to New York they holed up at Robert de Niro's Greenwich Hotel, and in Los Angeles, the Mondrian, where he had breakfast next to Jennifer Aniston.
Career-driven from a young age, Ashton worked hard to develop his talent but says his success has boiled down to having the right attitude, being open to opportunity and a dash of good fortune. He met Geldof's agent at a party, just when she happened to be looking for a new stylist. It also comes down to a good personality match, he says.
"Sometimes I'm with [celebrity clients] from 6.30 in morning until 11 at night and you're staying in hotel rooms next to each other. On a trip it's 24/7. If you're going to spend a lot of time with clients, you need to get along with them."
A job like Ashton's is not for those who like routine. Each week is completely different because events can come up at the last minute, he says. He recently flew to LA for 12 days with just 24 hours' notice. But he can afford to work a three-day week if he desires.
It seems that if you want to live the high life, you've got to want it, and Ashton - who writes the blog livinglifeluxe.blogspot.com - clearly always has.
"It was something I always wanted to be part of. I didn't know this would be the life that I'd be leading but I did always have an aspiration to something exciting."
Steve Nuthall on having a beer with Jeremy Clarkson
At the other end of the scale is landscape gardener Steve Nuthall, who lives an isolated existence on a $20 million waterfront Waiheke Island property. As he shows Canvas through his employer's vineyard, past the spa pool, vegetable garden and a gym stacked with kayaks and fishing rods, it's staggering to think he has access to all this, rent-free.
Three years ago life was very different. Nuthall was living in Glen Innes and in his seventh year as warehouse manager of a sailcloth company, when his partner Robyn fell pregnant. Realising they were both itching to get out of the city, they kickstarted their dream - to live off the land, surrounded by native bush, the ocean on their doorstep.
With a modest deposit saved, they started looking at real estate out of Auckland, finding a 0.6ha undeveloped block of land not far from this one.
"I basically told [the seller] 'I don't want to invest a lot of money in this land unless I can find employment' because I was giving up my job to move over here. He said, 'well, have my job'."
The vendor was working as a lawn mower on the neighbouring property and was keen to introduce him to the wealthy owners. With no landscaping experience, Nuthall was nervous but impressed them with his passion for the ocean, a diploma in marine studies and his determination to make his life on Waiheke work for his family. They offered him a full-time gig as on-site landscape gardener and Nuthall and his family moved into the simple seaside cottage next to the owner's holiday mansion. As well as maintaining the grounds and managing the vineyard, he's on call when the family or their friends come to stay, often taking them out fishing for kingfish or snapper, right off the beach.
"I've had to learn everything," says the 35-year-old, who had never sprayed poison or used a chainsaw or a weedwhacker until he moved to Waiheke. "That's why it's such an enjoyable job. You do have to be self-motivated, because there's no one around here to tell me what to do. It's very tempting to go fishing every day. We love bringing our daughter up in such a lovely spot where you can go swimming in the sea after daycare or before work, go on bush walks. The way of life here, without being hillbillies, is really nice and simple."
Nuthall is aware that he can't do such a physical job forever. In the height of summer he'll strap on overalls, hat, goggles and breathing apparatus with 15 litres of water strapped to his back. But without such big financial perks as free rent, power and bore water, he couldn't imagine how long it would take him to develop his own land. And it's not every job that gives you the opportunity to share a beer with celebs, like the day Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson and racing star Greg Murphy helicoptered on to the property.
There are a few downsides to island life, too. Dropping his daughter at daycare on the opposite side can take more than an hour. Because Robyn still works on the mainland, the couple are up by 6am, and Nuthall will often work until sunset in the summer. He also misses his mates, playing indoor cricket and fast-food. A cab home from a wedding on the other side of the island cost $70.
"I am aware of my isolation," he says. "I definitely think you need to be the right kind of person for this. But the sea is my passion. There's no reason for me to be unhappy."
Jordan Mauger on meeting Tom Cruise
Jordan Mauger has spent the last four years travelling the globe in style. The Maldives, the Carribean, Monaco are just some of wealthy playgrounds he's sailed into. The 26-year-old is one of a growing legion of Kiwis working abroad on superyachts.
"It's pretty ridiculous," he says of the scale of luxury to which he's become accustomed.
"Bars, gyms, cinema rooms, pools, spa pools, sun decks with loungers, big screen TVs outside. They're basically like floating mansion holiday homes."
Mauger had always wanted to travel but had no ideas jobs like this even existed until a family friend suggested he answer an ad for a deckhand in the Maldives. He was 22 and feeling restless, having returned to Christchurch from a gap year to Europe after high school.
Although he had no yachting experience, Mauger says his previous jobs as a personal trainer and restaurant manager had given him the necessary skills - the rest was up to charm.
"It's all about who you are," he says. "You could be the best navigator or yacht maintainer in the world but if you're an arsehole you won't last two weeks. You've got to live, socialise and work with everyone on board."
His home for the next two years was a 90m "floating palace" fitted with luxury toys. As well as general boat maintenance and cleaning, it was Mauger's job to take guests out wakeboarding, jetskiing, snorkelling and scuba diving.
Next he got a deckhand position in Vancouver, working on a 50m vessel that sailed between San Diego and Alaska, his boss a high-powered female ad exec who used the boat as a second home. Many of his fellow deckhands were Kiwis.
Where once a life on the sea lured the backpacker set looking for an easy way to do their OE, now it's attracting those serious about making it a career. Despite the recession cutting jobs last year, the industry hit a boom period in 2000, and led to more workers looking to upskill. The Mahurangi Technical Institute in Warkworth churns out up to 80 new recruits each year.
Luxury travel aside, it isn't hard to see why. Crew members don't pay for living costs and the pay is decent - entry level is 2000 euro ($3600) a month, rising to 20,000 euro a month-plus for captains - and until recent crack-downs by the European Union, many of the transient workers could get away without paying tax. There's also the potential to be tipped heavily by super-wealthy guests.
Mauger isn't one to name-drop - it's considered bad form in the industry - but he will confess to meeting Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes on his travels. Mauger saved enough from his travels to buy a Mustang, which he had shipped back to New Zealand.
"You do get to meet a lot of cool people. It's a life on the go, you're a gypsy on the sea."
It's not all glamorous, of course. Romantic relationships are almost impossible. Deckhands share modest bedrooms and are on call nearly all day. The hours can be demanding when there are big events on. At New Year's Eve in the Carribean, Mauger worked all night, driving guests between boat parties. Sometimes the crew are at the mercy of their guests, who can be obnoxious and demanding.
"You've got to have good judgment," says Mauger. "Other guests can be so welcoming and want to know all about you - 'come out Jordan, let's go snorkelling or play beach cricket'."
When the recession hit, Mauger and his crewmates were made redundant so he came home to pursue his ambition for film-making. He hasn't packed in the gypsy life for good though, and plans to returning to Vancouver this year. He's also hoping to upskill to become an officer.
"You have to work very hard, and you do miss knocking off work, going down to the local pub or bar and having a beer with your mates," he says. "You're on the go all the time. But it's exciting and I'm finding it quite hard to sleep without the rocking of the boat."
Laura Haden on being a celebrity nanny
When it comes to childcare, it makes no difference how wealthy or well-known your employer is, insists nanny Laura Haden, who works for TV One Breakfast host, Pippa Wetzell. The 26-year-old has looked after the offspring of some of New Zealand's best-known personalities, including Matthew and Sally Ridge, Dean and Mandy Barker and Mark and Amanda Hotchin.
"I've worked for high-profile families and those that aren't and the day is exactly the same," Haden says. "Kids are kids. They have tantrums, they won't do something. I take them swimming, dancing, to the library, it's really no different."
That's not to say she hasn't been offered a few perks along the way. When the Barkers moved to Valencia for the America's Cup they asked Haden to go with them. But with her heart set on travelling to the US, she moved to North Carolina on a three-month contract with another family. They weren't rich or famous, she says, but the position allowed her leisurely trips to New York during her weekends. She also travelled to Fiji regularly when she worked as one of two nannies for the Hotchins (who are currently in Hawaii, dodging inquiries from out-of-pocket Hanover investors). The biggest perk in working for Wetzell and husband Torrin Crowther, and their daughters Brodie and Cameron, says Haden, is that she gets along so well with the family.
"They do have a nice house. I've been lucky that a lot of the houses I've worked in are amazing. But you don't notice that in the end. Some families I've worked with haven't had the mansions and whatever. It's not about that. It's the people that make it, it's the family and love."
Haden says her foray into nannying for celebrities has been purely through chance. Her Dad is former All Black, now celebrity agent Andy Haden, and many of her employers have been family friends. As a teen she used to babysit the neigbours' kids - Jamie and Boston Ridge. After working in TV for three years, first as a PA on kids' show Sticky TV, and later as researcher on sports show Game of Two Halves and Matthew and Marc's Rocky Road (also with Ridge) and as a production manager on My House, My Castle, she decided it wasn't her calling. That's when she started nannying for the Barkers - it was through them she met Wetzell.
"These people have busy lives," says Haden, who recently started her own nanny agency, A Spoonful of Sugar. "For them to know their house is running smoothly, their kids are happy, that's what they are looking for."
Occasionally she'll be involved in a photo shoot with Wetzell but otherwise, she says, you wouldn't know she was a celebrity.
"They've got things going on in their life and they come home and that's where it's not supposed to happen. Home is where their life is. You see other people's perceptions of your boss and you're aware of their public image but that's not what I see. The best thing about nannying is they open their entire lives to you. You're right in there with their children. That's the most important thing to them."
Tim Blakey on working for one of the world's richest families
When Tim Blakey's boss goes on holiday, the last thing he does is lie around doing nothing. That's good news because it means the personal trainer and physio-therapist can go too.
This month Blakey, 30, joined the London-based billionaire, the head of one of the wealthiest families in the world, on their annual summer escape to the Mediterranean. As their superyacht cruised from the Spanish isles to Sardinia in Italy, Blakey put them through their paces in the on-board gym, supervised regular 1km ocean swims, and took them on three-hour mountain-biking and rock-climbing sessions.
"It's not so much of a holiday for me," he laughs, on the phone from his employers' London home. "But they are really motivated to get the most activity possible."
Winter holidays are no less active. Each Christmas Blakey joins the family on their yearly pilgrimage to Switzerland for snowboarding. On a private jet of course. Blakey still pinches himself that he's been working in such a job for the last five years. After studying to be a sports physio in Auckland and working in a muscular skeletal clinic in Auckland, he got a job as the physiotherapist for the Samoan Sevens team, a gig that had him travelling all over the world.
Then he wound up in France. It was there, during what he imagined would be a short-lived working holiday on a superyacht, an opportunity came up for someone with personal training experience and a health degree to work for a family in London.
Blakey does morning and evening training sessions with the six members of the family, six days a week. Occasionally he'll also be asked to train his boss' friends, who he says have included some of the world's top political figures and sportsmen. He's even talked fitness with Jennifer Lopez, a friend of the family.
"She's amazing," says Blakey. "She definitely puts in the hours at the gym."
It's a demanding job. Life in London, where the family have a sprawling mansion in Kensington, is a non-stop procession of training sessions and mountain biking weekend trips. In his spare time Blakey is studying acupuncture. His boss and son often work late so Blakey often finishes work as late as 11pm. That's when he gets his dinner, "so it's not every day of the week I can meet mates at the pub".
He does miss working for sports teams, he says but the job has way more perks.
"I certainly didn't imagine a life like this. I'm in a position where, if the family needs or wants something it has be done, I'm on call. I do know roughly how my schedule looks for the week but other things always have to be done, there's no time to muck around. But it's a small sacrifice to pay for this kind of opportunity."
