My Holiday: Rosetta Allan
What was your greatest holiday? My recent trip to Kazakhstan. Meeting the only two survivors of the Koryosaram exile by Stalin still living in Ushtobe. I travelled six hours in 36 degrees to meet them and was greeted with a traditional lunch at each of their homes. Yelena held my hand so tenderly before I left, that neither of us moved for a good five minutes. Our connection was heartfelt and transcended borders and languages.
And the worst? Fiji for New Year’s. A disagreement over dinner and a night in a hammock alone, watching New Year’s fireworks going off with the distant sound of cheers going up, followed by a week of food poisoning.
If we bump into you on holiday, what are you most likely to be doing? Exploring. Probably driving in the country off the beaten track and slightly lost.
If we could teleport you to one place in NZ for a week-long holiday, where would it be? Anywhere in Southland. I haven’t been back since I was 14.
How about for a dream holiday internationally? Iceland during the season of the Northern Lights. What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done when
travelling? Putting my passport in the back pocket of my jeans when a flight was delayed and having it fall out during the wait. Lucky for me it was handed in.
Aisle seat or window seat? Window.
Complete this sentence: I can’t travel without . . . earplugs and a good book.
What’s the best travel tip you’ve ever been given? Pack light. Somehow this wisdom still evades me.
What was the most memorable meal you’ve had while travelling? I was a guest speaker at the University of Kazakhstan. At dinner, the vodka salutes kept coming, so I snuck water into my glass under the table. A little “aglow”, I stood to sing the waiata Te Aroha, and toast my hosts. This kicked off an evening of song, including Arirang, Arirang, a song I had written into my novel.
Favourite airport to land at? Wellington. There is that slight fear that we may run out of runway. I love it! Especially on a windy day.
What’s the next trip you’ve got planned? Canada for the Calgary Wordfest, and the Vancouver Writers Festival in October. A friend will introduce me to some of the First Peoples of the land, and I can’t wait to hear their stories.
Rosetta Allan appears at the “Going West Writers Festival”, which runs from September 6-15. For schedule details and tickets, go to goingwestfest.co.nz