It is amazing how we kiwis travel the world yet many of us have never seen the beauty of our own back yard.
When I had the chance to fly back from LA to head on a 10 day
promotional trip to push our music festival Rhythm and Alps I jumped at the opportunity. I'd seen much of the trip from a memorable family holiday when I was
younger and some roady's when I was a student in Otago. But I had never done a full circum-navigation of the island which my business partner Alex was planning for us to help push our show held over new years eve.
Rather than just plod along handing our
flyers, talking to punters I thought lets brand it up as a marketing initiative
and share our journey with our audience. Not only could we post photos and
blog about our journey and festival, we might also encourage others to get our in their
cars and see the beauty of NZ. Ideally around new years! The Rhythm Roady was
born.
I was still shaking jet leg as I flew into
Christchurch on a still wintery Wednesday night. My business partner and roady
buddy Alex Turnbull was waiting in our trusty wagon. We were soon were settling into the
Chardonay Motel in Belfast on the outskirts. A brisk morning run around the set
the scene for what was to be a mammoth week on our feet ahead. We hit the road to Kaikoura, aiming to be in Blenheim by days end.
After the first night I woke up with a
cold. It may have had something to do with the open mike night at local
Blenheim bars and rums at a house party following. Either way I was now on the
back foot and although would have to carry this over the rest of the trip.
The routine on the first day was to set the
scene for the coming days. After a hearty breakfast, sampling the local coffee and saying farewell to what ever town we were in we hit the road. Alex would scan the ahead, looking for potential spots for our R&A coreflute signs. I would sit and chip
away on my laptop or half charged phone. Uploading photos to instagram, sending content back
to Ben in the office and texting/calling contacts ahead to make sure we keeping
to schedule.
When we hit the next town / city we would do a quick
walking tour dropping off flyers and posters to cafes and tourist hot spots. We would chat to everyone we met and tell them about NYE in Wanaka. Not once did we have any negative attitude. Mainlanders and extremely hospitable people!
Conversation revolved around current
decisions around festival promotion, music, team strutuces etc. It would soon wonder to a of topics including naming the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World and It wouldn’t be strange to pull over and take a phone call from one of our staff in
Auckland or one of our Australian touring partners.
Highlights of the trip had to be the drive
from Franz Joseph to Wanaka – via Haast Pass. The view of Mt Aspiring blew me
away! We looked at sites along Lake Hawea with stunning vistas of lake and mountains alike.
A highlight was get back to my scarfie roots with a Castle Street party at Otago University. One night was enough!
I felt very blessed to have experience an epic trip around my country. I would
love to do it next year and build on the current concept. Maybe look at working closer with media
partners to cover the trip. More sponsor
activations and giveaways on the way. Even take some entertainment - bands, DJs etc on the way? A magical mystery of sorts.
Bring on the next installment of the #RhythmRoady!
