PLENARY New Zealand
‘KIA ORA!’
Our group arrived at Auckland Airport
just before dawn. After we breezed
through customs and immigration, a
van took us through the sleeping city
to The Langham, Auckland, our base
for the next two days. With 411 rooms
and 17 suites, The Langham is the city’s
largest hotel, and we would learn that
there’s a constant buzz in its lobby.
Thanks to the International Date
Line, it was actually two days after we
had left California — but it was a brand-new day in New Zealand. After a brief
refresh, we boarded a fleet of historic
cars — including a 1958 Rolls-Royce that
had once driven Queen Elizabeth — to
Auckland’s docks, where we transferred
to the 105-foot “superyacht” Pacific
Mermaid. The luxurious liner, which
has been chartered by heads of state,
accommodates parties of up to 80. With
20 or so in our group, we had plenty
of room to fan out — but most of us
took our coffee to the upper deck to
soak in the morning sun as we whizzed
over Hauraki Gulf toward
Waiheke Island. (Waiheke
means “cascading waters”
in Maori.) An hour later,
Ananda Tours was driving
us over the hilly island —
dotted with picturesque
villages and wineries — and
soon dropped us at the
grounds of Mudbrick
Vineyard and Restaurant
in Oneroa. We drank in even more
stunning gulf views during an exquisite lunch in Mudbrick’s rustic dining
rooms (and featuring our first taste of
New Zealand’s most famous dish, lamb,
seared and served with harissa).
During afternoon visits to
Stonyridge Vineyard and Delamore
Lodge — an intimate retreat nestled
into a hillside — Waiheke continued to
enchant. But more Auckland goings-on
awaited — so by late afternoon, we
joined the throngs for a 30-minute ferry
ride back to Auckland.
THE MEETINGS MEETING
An hour or so later, our bleary crew
suited up for the opening gala dinner
of MEETINGS, a trade show put on by
Conventions & Incentives New Zealand
(CINZ) that attracts hosted buyers from
around the world. Befitting an organi-
zation that plans for planners, CINZ
hosted the dinner at the iconic, hilltop
Auckland War Museum — in the venue’s
top-floor Events Centre, with views of
Auckland. After a Maori
welcome of percussion and
rhythmic songs, we glided
past the museum’s exhibits
to dinner. I encountered
the first of many unfamiliar
New Zealand fish: guernard,
a white fish that my Kiwi
tablemates described as “a
cross between salmon and
flounder.” They weren’t far
off the mark.
The next day, it was time to get
down to business for MEETINGS 2015
at the ASB Showgrounds. While my
fam-trip buddies — mostly incentive
planners — met with tour operators
and destination reps, I interviewed
a few exhibitors and learned about
two new convention centers that will
soon open, one in Auckland and the
other in Christchurch, which has been
rebuilding vigorously after the 2011
earthquake that killed 185 people and
did some $40 billion in damage. And
Sea-to-Table New Zealand meals feature
incredibly fresh seafood and meats — and
sometimes, quirky Kiwi style.
Planes can be the
fastest way to get
around, especially
if you’re headed
from the top of
the North Island to
the bottom of the
South Island.