Elisabeth Easther chats to the owner-operator of Gulf Eco Adventures
Our early family holidays were mainly to Waiheke. Loaded up, we'd take the old ferry over, and it seemed to take about a day, with the ramshackle old boat loaded to the gills. We rented a house there from an old lady who lived on the section behind, it was a very basic weatherboard cottage with old fittings, like a concrete bathtub. We'd catch the bus to Onetangi, which was just a sleepy little community surrounded by bush, and we'd spend all our days at the beach. It was very "back to basics", with one general store that wasn't open Saturdays and Sundays, there was no TV or phone. In the evenings it was all about board games and family.
When I was 6, we hired a campervan and did a six-week trip around the South Island. It was one of those old campers with a sleeping area above the cab and my sister and I bunked up there, looking out the window as we drove along. It was the first time I saw snow.
At 18, by myself, I jumped on my first international flight and flew to the UK. The cheapest airfare was with Garuda Indonesia and the plane felt like it was going to fall apart on take off and landing. When we landed in Bali, all the passengers applauded.
Getting to Europe, I loved the idea of being in charge of where I was going. I bought a European bus pass so I could wake up each morning, look at a map and say, "that looks cool". I loved Venice, architecture has always been a passion; Athens and Rome were amazing. But being one of tens of thousands of tourists milling about in small areas, as I got more confident dealing with currencies, languages and cultures, I flagged the buses and went off the beaten track and got to places where I was the only tourist. One day I realised I only had a couple of hundred bucks left, so I headed back to the bus circuit and to the UK to find work.
