Lessons in life and business

I've just returned from a business networking and professional development retreat in Queenstown, New Zealand. The forum group I travelled with is part of the Sydney chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO). Once again I was roped into organising the event after delivering memorable outings to the Gold Coast last year, and to Wellington in 2023. Earlier in the year I’d unsuccessfully tried to lobby the group to visit Far North Queensland. This struck me as a far warmer location than Queenstown in June.

However, despite the time of year, we enjoyed partly sunny, albeit, cold conditions most days. We also based ourselves at a luxurious homestead near Arrowtown, a holiday home owned by a forum member’s relatives. Our first evening kicked off with night luge rides at Skyline, a tourism complex overlooking Queenstown. We then retired to a private dining room inside the complex. Jim Boult, a guest speaker I’d secured via an old business contact, joined us for dinner.

Jim is the former mayor of Queenstown. He’s also the former CEO of Christchurch Airport and the iconic Shotover Jet Group. He was the first of three extraordinary speakers we met over the next few days. The following day we spent several hours with Olivier Ravel (former owner of PDL, a regional shipping company), before Jo Eddington, an incredibly talented serial entrepreneur, joined us for dinner on our final night in town. 

We based ourselves at the spectacular Kamana Lakehouse on our second day. I’d secured a meeting room for the day with floor to ceiling windows and an open deck offering stunning views of Lake Wakatipu. We later dined at The Nest, the venue’s onsite restaurant. I can honestly say the venison I ordered was one of the best game meals I’ve ever eaten.

As a group we took time out to enjoy a few of Queenstown's classic tourist attractions. Highlights included a rather tame Zipline ride in the Kawarau Gorge and a phenomenal indoor skydiving session. These activities were a last minute addition after a scheduled day flight to Mt Cook was cancelled thanks to inclement alpine weather. Let’s just say indoor skydiving is a lot harder than it looks. Although the “high flight” I took with an instructor was truly awesome. Enjoy the video!

On Saturday we enjoyed a leisurely lakefront lunch at the Boatshed Cafe, before boarding a delayed flight home. We eventually departed shortly before sunset. The delay was well worth the wait. The snow clad peaks of the Southern Alps were simply glowing in the late afternoon sun. It was a spectacular end to a superb event. It would be fair to say I’ve been permanently appointed as the forum’s annual retreat organiser. I’m not sure how I’ll top this week’s effort.

One final story. One member of our group, Daniel (that’s him on the Zipline above) recently became a Platinum One frequent flyer with Qantas. His status was recognised on our flight in spectacular style, as was my own Platinum status. Our group was presented with snacks upon boarding, logo emblazoned key rings mid-flight and a bottle of wine each as we left the aircraft. The youngest member of our group was simply blown way by the experience. After decades of top status flying it was fun seeing everything afresh through the eyes of a newbie.