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Once a month we send out an e-newsletter, giving behind the scenes insight into the production of the magazine, sneak previews of upcoming issues as well as interactive features.How I became... a Kiwi tourism guru
After leading a gypsy lifestyle around the world with her two young daughters in tow, Kate Mora arrived back in New Zealand to create her Nirvana. She had just $8. Thirty years later aged 63, she is living her dream.
“I wasn’t academic like my conservative Catholic parents. I was a creative soul with a curiosity about life that safe suburbia didn’t satisfy.
“So, in 1979, I escaped the struggle and stigma of solo motherhood in west Auckland and set off on an adventure with my girls to explore the world. They were nine and 11.
“We spent two years discovering the different cultures and delights of Sri Lanka, India, Spain and Holland. I traded jewellery and sarongs to support ourselves. It was the hippy era. We travelled through tea plantations, stayed in a monastery with kind monks and eventually reached the hilltop township of Kandy in central Sri Lanka. We loved the gentle people there and I enrolled the girls in Mrs Rajapaksa's International School. This unusual education helped inspire little Amy and Lisa to have exciting international careers as a teacher and journalist.
"I was very inspired by a wonderful old stone villa in a Kandy rainforest where we stayed, and I realised providing holiday accommodation in a spectacular lush location was exactly what I wanted to do!
“We returned to Auckland in the ‘80s so the girls could attend high school and, while studying marketing, I began selling my own designer knitwear at Cook St Market and eventually at exclusive boutiques - including Zambesi. But with knitwear being seasonal and with two teenage girls to support, I needed a more stable income so began working as a receptionist in a real estate office. I ended up a top salesperson!
“It took two years to find a suitable property to set up my rainforest dream. My new husband and I saw a ‘for sale’ sign at the entrance of a leafy Titirangi driveway. Against a tide of negativity – even the real estate agent said we couldn’t afford it – we established A Chalet in The Ferns. For the past six years, I’ve been successfully providing holiday accommodation for visitors from around the world. The mystical Manukau Harbour, the wild waves of the West Coast and the artistic community have provided an idyllic lifestyle. It’s a two-minute walk through the rainforest to the shops and cafes, which is perfect.
“I also developed a weddings website which has now morphed into a tourist information site for West Auckland. This allows me to express my creative side while utilising my marketing skills.
“I believe if people really enjoy what they do, they will be more likely to succeed. It’s important not to go into crippling debt for it but to take it slowly. I felt extremely inadequate until I discovered I was achieving better results than anyone else predicted. It’s important to think beyond normal. Tap in to your own special qualities and be open to learn from others who are successful. Be slightly off centre, and learn how to market your product or service – you can’t sell a secret!”
Interview by Rosalind Le Bas Walker.
