Elisabeth Easther talks to the proprietor of Tophouse Historic Inn, St Arnaud, Nelson.
I've always liked people, I enjoy meeting them and talking to them. So it can be annoying when you do travel and people are all yammering away on their phones.
I'm from Rangitikei originally, born in 1954, so my memories of the '50s are a dim vision from the cot. I remember in the '60s, living in the countryside and doing things like eeling, climbing trees and bird nesting. We fed the chooks, mowed the lawns, helped in the garden and milked the cow. We weren't rich so we made our own fun. For holidays, Mum's parents had a farm in Sanson so we'd go there, or to Dad's mother in Bulls where she'd spoil us rotten. Or we'd visit the wild west coast beaches, all grey black sand, driftwood at the mouths of rivers. These were mainly day trips, I don't remember going away with Mum and Dad for extended periods.
Twenty-odd years ago I spent some time in China for work and that was intriguing. In the countryside you'd see people in the fields growing veges using hoes and shovels, then in smoggy cities they're building 130-storey high-rises and the scaffolding is bamboo all the way up. I was there for work, consulting to the Chinese Government, and they are amazing hosts. Breakfast is 20 courses, lunch is at least 30 and dinner 40, such beautiful food and these little dishes kept coming and coming. I certainly put on weight there.
Over the past 10 years we've really got into diving and we've been to most of the islands. Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Rarotonga, Great Barrier Reef. The underwater world is amazing, you see something different every time you go down. In Tonga, I got within a couple of metres of a humpback whale and its eye was a huge ball, about the size of a basketball. But I wasn't scared, they're quite gentle.
