After many months of planning I had the amazing opporutunity to travel to the Land of the Long White Cloud, beautiful New Zealand, to provide an intensive 3-day Restorative Arts Workshop.
Working with Nardus Oelofse and John Schipper of Davis Funerals and with the support of Dodge Australia (now Mazwell Group), I was able to provide 3 days of unique training that included: Portrait Sculpture, Lifecasting, and Airbrush makeup (taught by the super talented, Jan Field ).
The trip started off quite strong as I had an excellent hotel that was quite central. Of course, me being me, I went out exploring each and every day.
While I was there, I climbed up to the top of a dormant volcano, Mount Eden, at both sunrise and sunset!
I also went to the top of the Auckland Sky Tower
and I took the ferry out to the gorgeous Waiheke Island where I biked from one end to the other!
I highly recommend all of these and anything you have a notion to do whilst in Auckland. The architecture, scenery and the wines are devine!
I also went to HELL while I was there! I can highly recommend their spicy pizzas and hot wings!
After all the sightseeing I finally had to go to work.
My students came from all over the country. And even though I had a viscious cold (no doubt overdoing the sight seeing!), they were excellent pupils.
We even got featured by the news on NZ1!
Of course, I was looking as terrible as possible, and you couldn’t even understand me as my voice was so shattered! But, by all reports, we got our message across and everyone loved what we were doing to help the industry and its clients.
By the end of the 3 days, the attendees were noticeably tired and full of a tonne of information. Surely a good thing but we may have to throw a break day in the middle somewhere next time so as, we don’t overload them.
My hosts were amazing! John took care of anything I needed while I was there as well as being my personal Uber! Then as a thankyou for a job well done, Nardus took John and I to dinner and then the Caretaker…which was AMAZING! And my new mate Christian, was so kind as to drive me around to some of the most beautiful coastal sites on my last day, which included a huge mussels lunch!
And the attendees were not only lovely folks but super-talented as well.
Check out this Einstein!!
All of the Davis Funeral homes are beautiful venues. But the West Auckland venue run by John Schipper is gorgeous! Styled like a cross between a Tuscan villa and a ranch in New Mexico, it was just simply beautiful.
The hospitality and attention to detail that Nardus and his team provided was second to none.
Thanks guys! Above and beyond! I can’t wait to come back!
