York was the the destination that surprised Morell the most. Photo / Unsplash
York was the the destination that surprised Morell the most. Photo / Unsplash
The singer-songwriter for Goldenhorse shares her favourite travel stories.
What are your strongest memories from the first overseas trip you ever took?
Coming to New Zealand for the first time to meet my whānau and grandparents in Taupō – the twin set top and shorts my nan made me for that, the feeling that the weather was sunnier, better back then! The pōwhiri, visiting local marae, and visiting Cherry Island with the Rainbow Trout.
What was a standard family holiday like when growing up?
Holidays with my family were amazing: six weeks camping in Coromandel, eating fresh lobster at the Coroglen Tavern, my brother surfing, Dad taking me out on his windsurfer, mum cooking amazing food. Or visiting family in Australia, riding horses in the Outback, swimming so much I’d get burst eardrums ... that sort of thing.
My parents, they both travelled (and worked) at a time when you could cross borders, hitch rides around Europe, get a teaching job on a Greek island, work as a builder by day and by night play music in California!
What is the greatest trip you’ve ever been on?
Actually, every opportunity I get to travel I feel blessed. Free travel is a rare commodity – that’s an oxymoron. It’ll have to be a private tour, with friends, around Paris. My friend Emmeline works as a tour guide. Her background of 18 years at the Globe Theatre makes her tours highly interesting/amusing – but also since getting a Masters in art curation, I’m fascinated by connecting the research and seeing it in the flesh. Very ekphrastic. There’s no replacement for the human encounter.
Food poisoning in Barcelona. And people misinterpreting musicians “touring work” as travel. It is in no way a “holiday” or a particularly nice way to travel. E.g. having to meet the timing demands of promoters in say Geneva from somewhere like Hamburg, Germany.
What’s your approach to packing for an overseas trip?
Decent noise-cancelling headphones. I stupidly sat on my last pair and broke them! Yep, for rock n roll – just that; earplugs, melatonin, black-out eye masks. For holiday travel all my beauty products in handy little containers, I use Aesop and World Organics and have to swap them over into reusable plastic things. Take a good map or book on the place – the Lonely Planet series is excellent. So is DK publication. I look for different publications often, they can give you such a good experience – such as the Good Travel Guide - a green sustainable guidebook series. They also take you off the beaten track.
Singer-songwriter Kirsten Morrell drops her new single 'Harry' on November 10." Photo / Supplied
What is the destination that most surprised you – good or bad – and why?
When I met my mum in York for a holiday and her encyclopaedic brain as we walked around, she filled my world up with facts. And encouraged me to buy books about the subject matter, to be able to digest when I got home. To be able to pass on to family and friends.
Where was your most memorable sunrise/sunset?
In the Isles of Scilly, or Syllan, or Les Solingues, or Las Sorlingas: it’s a rather multicultural place, and its native population is still debated. Until the 18th century people there were called “Islanders”. Perhaps that’s why I’m drawn to it.
What’s the first thing you do when you get home from a long trip?
Well, Ben King (guitarist of Goldenhorse) did his research on jetlag and since then I’ve always slept when I feel the need – but yeah, catch up with family and friends.
Fresh air, clean seas, clean drinking water - less pollution. Joni Mitchell was so right when she sang “don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”.
Where is the one destination you must see in your lifetime, and why?
Well for me, it’s the locations of myths and legend: I would have loved to have seen the Pink & White terraces before Mt Tarawera blew up. And Atlantis the place – thank god for filmmakers like Peter Jackson, Taika Waititi and Guillermo Del Toro for bringing imagination to life.
What’s your favourite thing about travel?
Small mercies: When you find a charity, or a pay-forward system happening in a local area. When people reach out and help one another. Listening to people chat and sharing stories with others. Oh, yeah and sampling fresh fruit. Peaches are always bigger in Italy for some strange reason.
