DON'T LEAVE TOWN UNTIL YOU'VE SEEN THE COUNTRY

I might be showing my age here, but there was an incredibly cool ad on the telly when I was a kid that encouraged kiwis to head around Aotearoa before they headed around the world. The idea was that you can’t really appreciate the world around you until you have seen the wonders of your own land. I think that I was greatly blessed to have travelled a lot of Aotearoa before I travelled overseas.

It wasn’t until I travelled through Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe and saw the history and cultures of places like Malaysia, Dubai, France, Italy, Malta, Tunisia as well as in the UK, that I truly have come to appreciate the unique identity that Maori culture offers to all of Aotearoa. Flying home to carvings, korus on our planes, haka and waiata are all things that help to provide a sense of identity as a New Zealander. I truly felt that I was home.

This picture was taken at the iconic DC3 at Taupo McDonalds. Not exactly a classy establishment… but I was there with a camera when something special was happening in the sky - I do think this image captures the travel motif quite nicely though… I shall call it “McTravel”.