Elisabeth Easther talks to the marketing manager of the Chatham Islands Hotel.
I went to high school in a town just outside Rome where the philosophers of the past made their poetry and opera. For holidays we often went to Sicily because my father's from there. In Europe the culture is all about monuments and seeing what men have done over the past thousand years, but in New Zealand, it's all about nature, the sea life and bird life.
I love Barcelona. I love how Gaudi's art has given colour to the monuments and streets. And when I think of Holland, what I love are the streets and the houses with huge windows and no curtains, so everyone can see in if they wish. They have a different concept of privacy and people are respectful there anyway, so you feel there is nothing to be hidden.
I came to New Zealand because I needed a holiday. I'd just finished my studies in law and I was overwhelmed and tired. Because I had a meaningful connection here, I flew to Auckland and then directly to the Chatham Islands, the furthest place in the world from Rome. Prior to that I had only travelled in Europe and the idea of catching a plane for 24 hours was scary.
Going from an enormous international aircraft to the Air Chathams 1957 Convair was an experience and, on a windy day, we were bumping up and down and all I could do was hold the hand of the kind passenger sitting next to me. It was very cold with no sun, and I was coming from 40C in Italy. My first thought was that I was absolutely in the middle of nowhere, it was rugged and remote, and that there was nothing around me, only sheep. In the next few days, the colours of the island started shining to my eyes: the blue of the sea, the black and orange of the native birds on the white sand, the green and pink of the paua shells, and the brown of the seaweed waving off the rocks.
Now I have lived here for four years. Fishing and hunting are the main activities, and visiting the Moriori petroglyphs and rock carvings. The geological formations on these islands go back millions of years and people can also look for fossilised shark teeth in the lagoon.