New Zealand - Well Auckland was great, I loved it! - despite the rain.
We were met at the airport by Peter Jeffries C.E.O. of an organisation called Community of Refuge Trust. I had met Peter in Australia and he kindly offered to meet us on our arrival. He then spent some time showing us Auckland the surrounding area and the housing issues they face. This proved to be an invaluable background to my conference session.
The next two days were lost in a bit of a whirl of activity, presentations, a meeting with their Housing Minister and then the conference itself. Very interesting and again it feels to me as if there are real parallels with the Northern Ireland Executive here.
New Zealand appears to be structured in a similar way and also faces issues that may sound familiar to many of us. They need to invest in the existing stock but also need to build new affordable housing at a time when Government money is tight. (With me having the speaking slot on "A global Housing Community" and a separate meeting with the Minister. Well at least we sparked some ideas!!!
And Home - Home sweet Home! The trip was an experience of a lifetime. So many places, such interesting environments, so much potential new business. But the thing that will stay with me longest is the amazing friendliness of the people I met. We were made welcome in all the places we visited, nothing seemed to be too much trouble for our hosts who in some cases gave up their own time to escort us from place to place.
To all of them - thank you.
Now it is back to work. I hope you had a great seasonal holiday break.
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