Lois Gibbon's Holiday Heaven and Hell' for the Evening Post
Lois Gibbon runs Daffodil Events, the firm which staged the South and West Wales Caravan and Motorhome Show 2012 in Carmarthen. Here is her Holiday Heaven and Hell, as featured in the South Wales Evening Post -
What was your best holiday?
As an avid traveller, it is very difficult to choose, but I think New Zealand was the most interesting. I travelled there with my best friend Mererid back in December, 2007, for six weeks. We hired a car on arrival and travelled the whole of the north and south island.
In the north, we visited NZ’s biggest city, Auckland, saw dolphins at Whitianga, visited the sulphur pools and the traditional Maori Villages in Rotorua, Huka Falls in Taupo, the art-deco town of Napier and the wine region of Hastings before heading down to Wellington, the windy city.
Then we crossed to the south and spent time in Picton, Nelson, Franz Joseph and Fox Glazier and on to Queenstown for some white water rafting. We visited the peaceful and stunning sights of Milford and Doubtful Sounds near Te Anau and then on to Dunedin, where we drove up the steepest hill in the world!
We worked our way up to Christchurch, where the World Busking Festival was being held at the time, passing Mount Cook and Lake Tekapo, on to the Blenheim wine region before crossing back to the north.
We stayed for a while in Wellington to film for the ‘Ffermio’ farming programme on S4C and then moved on to see friends in Wanganui before travelling up to the Bay of Plenty.
We took in some sailing in Paihia and visited the most northern point in New Zealand, Cape Reinga, it felt like the end of the world!
It was by far the most varied country I have ever visited in scenery, landscape, culture, people and weather.
Your worst?
I don’t believe I’ve ever had a ‘worst holiday’, as every holiday should be an experience in one way or another. But, I guess if I was to choose a difficult holiday it would be Portugal. This wasn’t particularly because of the destination but more because my suitcase was lost on arrival there.
I was only 13 and on a family holiday with my parents and brother, so you can imagine being a teenager and having to wear your mother’s T-shirts and shorts for the first four days of the holiday. It didn’t go down too well!
What was the most memorable holiday moment?
My most memorable holiday moment has to be my last holiday, which was my honeymoon with Martin last October. We decided not have your stereotypical exotic beach style honeymoon but opted to travel around California. What stood out was our helicopter ride into the Grand Canyon in Las Vegas, with front seats and amazing views, followed by a champagne picnic at the bottom of the canyon. It was an unforgettable, breath-taking and special experience for both of us.
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