Pacific NZ Dance Festival director’s travel tips and favourite trips

Samoa is a place of family connections for Pacific NZ Dance Festival director Iosefa Enari. Photo / 123rf

The director of Pacific NZ Dance Festival, Iosefa Enari, shares his favourite holidays and travel tips.

What are your strongest memories from the first overseas trip you ever took?

My strongest memory is travelling back to Samoa with my parents and siblings. In those days, people dressed up to travel. The flight was long and we stopped in Tonga. When we arrived, our family had turned up to the airport to pick us up. So many pickup trucks.

What was a standard family holiday like when growing up?

My parents were migrants so we travelled to Samoa to stay connected with our family and culture.

Who has most inspired your travels?

I was a professional dancer back in the day so the other older dancers inspired me to travel. In those days, most dance artists made it bigger overseas than they did here.

What is the greatest trip you’ve ever been on?

It would have to be when I was 13 years old and in the Auckland Boys Choir. We performed at an international choral demonstration in Vancouver. We went through Hawaii and after the tour got a chance to go to Washington. The great thing was I saw snow for the first time.

And the worst?

I was in Romania in the late 80s. A horse bolted out in the middle of the night as I was driving and I wrote the car off. So glad no one was hurt.

What’s your approach to packing for a big trip?

Wash, dry and pack the clothes the night before. Always go by the number of days you are away and have an option for smart casual wear. You never know when something comes up and you need to be a little formal.

Iosefa Enari is the director of Pacific NZ Dance Festival, on until June 16. Photo / Supplied

What is the destination that most surprised you – good or bad?

Brisbane. I didn’t think it was such a big city.

Where was your most memorable sunrise/sunset?

New Caledonia. We were on an isolated island called Lifou which was so impressive when the sun set and rose. Great colours of the Pacific.

What’s the first thing you do when you get home from a long trip?

Open the windows.

What do you miss most about home when you travel?

Cooking for myself.

Where is the one destination you must see in your lifetime?

Probably India, for the culture, the cuisine, the colours.

What’s your favourite thing about travel?

I appreciate home every time I return.

Iosefa Enari is the director of the Pacific Dance NZ festival. The Pacific Dance NZ festival 2023 runs until June 16. For more information visit pacificdance.co.nz