He Ta¯ ngata: Bjorn Burton
As told to Elisabeth Easther
When you think back to when you’re young, lots of things are forgotten, but my Disneyland memories are still so vivid. I loved the atmosphere, the music, everything was immaculate, that really stood out. I also remember eating turkey legs in the States. They were like something from The Flintstones, these giant drumsticks that looked like clubs and tasted like ham.
When I was younger my family had a caravan at the campground in Sandspit. We spent a lot of time there, which was great because I was really keen on fishing. One morning Dad got us out of bed super-early because he wanted us to see the sun rise. We went to the motorcamp’s little jetty and set up some of those chairs that fold into a briefcase. I also wanted to fish, so
I cast my hook and was winding it in and I said I had something, that it must be a flounder. Dad thought it couldn’t be — you don’t get flounder on a rod and reel. But sure enough, I’d caught a flounder, quite a decent size too, it’d sucked on to the sinker. I’ve still got the photo, and I look so proud.
We went to Niue a few years ago. It’s pretty much a coral rock, and quite porous so water drains straight through. We hired a car and drove to all the little caverns with our fins and snorkels. We did some reef snorkelling in a place called Snake Gully. Such deep blue water, and the visibility was amazing. We didn’t see whales, but there were plenty of fish, including sea snakes.
My wife and I have been to Mexico a couple of times. In 2012 we did a New Year’s trip to Playa Del Carmen. We hired a taxi to visit the Mayan ruins, and it was only about $90 for the whole day. We loved it so much we honeymooned in Mexico, but we went to the other side, to Cabo. San Jose is relatively quaint and not as touristy as nearby San Luca with its marina and big resorts. Cabo is very different to Cancun. In Cabo, you’ve got the beach, then heading inland it’s more like desert, and very dry, whereas on the Cancun side, beyond the beach it’s more jungly and green.
The only place I’ve felt a little unsafe while travelling was Paris because there are so many scammers and pickpockets. People go to Paris thinking they’ll find this wonderfully romantic city, but you have to be careful. We went around the time of the Rugby World Cup, and I was wearing an All Backs jersey and these guys came up and asked if we were from New Zealand. Then they started cheering and would put an arm around you like they were really excited. When one of our guys saw them trying to get into our pockets, we got rid of them pretty quickly. A couple of years ago, my wife and I went to Beijing. We did a tour to The Great Wall, and went to a less touristy part which we loved. Someone also recommended we do a bike tour of the Hutongs, the little alleyways where people live and cook out on the street. We enjoyed it so much, on our last day we hired bikes and rode independently around the city for the day. You have to keep your wits about you, but one benefit is there are so many people riding bikes, you feel safer than in New Zealand where you might be just one cyclist on a road with a whole lot of cars.
I studied film and television but I realised I wanted more stability, so I got a job as a retail consultant at Flight Centre and that set me on the path of travel. Later I worked for an airline, and when Qatar started flying into New
Zealand, I joined them. They’re growing so fast. Twenty years ago they had one plane flying within the Middle East, now they have more than 250 planes flying all over the
world. Auckland to Doha typically takes 17 and a half hours and, once you’re in Doha, Europe is so close. London’s about seven hours, Paris is six and a half, and Eastern Europe is less again. What I love about Qatar, they’re really innovative when it comes to luxury.
Doha is really growing as a tourist destination.
The desert safari is incredible — to see desert on the edge of an inland sea. I love the traditional souk market, to walk the cobbled streets, and hang out and have dinner. The other big attractions are the Museum of Islamic Art and the recently opened National Museum of Qatar. It’s right on the water and the architecture alone is phenomenal.
One thing my wife and I always say when we come home, we live in such a wonderful city.
We travel to all these amazing places, but we come home and we both agree that Auckland is the best place for us