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Wendy Buckley
Managing Director
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| Years in the industry: 33 years |
| Favourite places I have visited: Tanzania,
Vietnam, New York and the hills of Tuscany. |
| Personal life or travel experiences: Climbing
Mt Kilimanjaro would be the highlight of my travels. Seeing my favourite continent
from the highest point was an amazing site. I love different cultures and personally
experience the most inner peace in the African bush viewing a lion with her cubs. |
Places I love to sell, talk about: Africa,
Egypt, Thailand, Vietnam.
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Sharen Shelnutt
General Manager
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Years in the industry – 23 years
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| Favourite places I have visited: Canada and
Alaska, China, Africa and Mauritius, Hawaii, Fiji. |
| Personal life or travel experiences: Having
worked in the travel industry in retail, wholesale and corporate, I have seen
how technology has steered our world to a global village culture. An example
of this was the first group I escorted to China 20 years ago with the challenges
of language and tourism being limited and controlled, to a China now embracing
modernism and hosting events like the Olympic Games. My experience climbing the
wondrous Great Wall and pushbike riding in Guilin, are still clear in my memories
and set the benchmark for my love of exotic destinations. |
| Places I love to sell, talk about: Besides
exotic destinations, the cruising culture is a favourite sell because of the
diverse ports of call on a variety of ship standards, ensuring an enjoyable experience
for the traveller. Also designing unique holiday experiences for my clients,
like luxury escapes and soft adventure travel. |
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Blair Leslie
Corporate Travel Manager
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| Years in the industry – 37 years |
| Favourite places I have visited: Nepal, Myanmar,
Vietnam, Europe |
| Personal life or travel experiences: Working
with Wendy Buckley for over 20 years has been entertaining and never dull. On
a serious note, being part of the success of sending teams of volunteer surgeons
to Vietnam and Myanmar for the past 7 years has been personally fulfilling. |
| Places I love to sell, talk about: All destinations
and cruising. I specialise in sporting and special interest groups, corporate
travel and personalised itinerary planning. |
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Belinda Grist
Luxury Travel Specialist
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| Years in the industry – 20 years |
| Favourite places I have visited: Africa, Cambodia, Vietnam, Tahiti, Mauritius, New York and the list goes on. |
| Personal life or travel experiences: I see every destination as a new adventure and I thoroughly enjoy discovering new places. Whether it is skiing Canada or cruising on one of the gorgeous Cruise ships such as Regent Seven Seas, or taking a tuk-tuk before the sunrises to Angkor Wat and watching the sky turn pink as the sun rises over the main temple, or an adventure with Abercrombie & Kent to the remote areas of Zambia staying in beautiful lodges and camps surrounded by wild animals!. Luxury is all about the experience whether it’s with kids or without it’s the detail that makes the difference of an exceptional travel experience. |
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Diana Cavallaro
Senior Consultant
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| Years in the industry – 10 years |
| Favourite places I have visited: I believe every place is different and unique in its own way. There have been so many beautiful places I have been to but if I was to name a few would have to be: Rome or anywhere in Italy, Croatia, Greek Islands & New York to say the least. |
| Personal life or travel experiences: : I started working in Travel at the age of 16. My first Education was a ski trip to Perisher Blue, from there it lead me to a whole other world of fabulous trips, from luxury hotels around the World to Cruising the Nile on a Felucca. After working with the same company for 7 years I decided to head to Europe and do the whole “Working Holiday” experience. I started with a 3 month holiday and from there I ended up in London where my intended 6 months ended up being over 2 years. I was able to still work in travel looking after high-end corporate clients as well as keeping up my passion for travelling. Having recently returned from my adventures, I would like to share with as many people my passion for travel as well as learn about other destinations I have not yet been to. |
| Places I love to sell, talk about: Places I have experienced, but love researching new destinations as I like to get involved and hopefully end up there on my own holiday. |
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Mark Allen
Senior
Consultant
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| Years in the industry – 19 years |
| Favourite places I have visited: Bali, Hawaii,
Alaska, Vietnam. |
| Personal life or travel experiences: I am a
bit of a fitness freak and in 2004 I had finished my morning run up to Diamond
Head (Honolulu) and decided to finish with a swim at the beach. When I was coming
out of the water who do I see standing alone on the beach — none other
than Cameron Diaz!. Of course I had to go up to her and introduce myself. She
turned out to be great fun and we chatted for 10 minutes. That is my brush with
fame while holidaying in Hawaii. |
| Places I love to sell, talk about: Hawaii,
Bali |
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Nicole Reber
Travel
With Kidz Consultant |
| Currently on marternity leave - expected return
late 2009. |
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Years in the industry – 12 years
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| Favourite places I have visited: Mauritius,
Bali, Fiji, Europe, America, Thailand. |
| Personal life or travel experiences: Since
having my son Saxon, I appreciate how important the small details are when travelling
with children. If you can find a holiday which has something for everyone - Mum,
Dad and the kids, then everyone will enjoy themselves. |
| Places I love to sell, talk about: Love selling
places I have been to as I am able to share personal experiences. |
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Natalie Hadikin
Travel With Kidz Consultant
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Years in the industry – 13 years
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| Favourite places I have visited: Africa, Thailand,
Egypt, Turkey, Mexico, Maldives & all over Europe. |
| Personal life or travel experiences: Having
travelled extensively to more than 50 countries throughout Europe, North America,
the Eastern Mediterranean, Africa & Asia, I have an intense love of travel
that just keeps growing! Whether it be canoeing the Okavango Delta, skiing down
the slopes of Steamboat Springs, climbing to the top of Mt Sinai or relaxing
in a hammock on a remote Mexican Beach, every holiday holds the experience of
a lifetime that I love to share with anyone willing to listen! Now that I have
a child, my interest is to also discover exceptional places that will suit the
whole family in their quest for the perfect getaway! |
| Places I love to sell, talk about: I am passionate
about selling destinations I have personally experienced. No amount of research
can compare to the real life experience of having seen, heard, touched, smelt & tasted
a place. |
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Penny Hughes
Travel With Kidz Consultant
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Years in the industry – 14 years
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| Favourite places I have visited: Fiji, Hawaii,
Thailand, Bali, Vietnam, Europe, UK, USA. |
| Personal life or travel experiences: I joined
the Travel Industry when I was 18 because I was eager to see the world! That
eagerness is still just as strong today. There is nothing more exciting to me
than landing in a new country ready to explore. I love to meet the locals and
soak up the culture of a country as I feel that’s how you see a country
at it’s best. |
| Places I love to sell, talk about: Elephant
trekking in Thailand, Swimming with Dolphins in Hawaii and snorkeling in Fiji
are some of the highlights that stay in my mind. I now have a baby so my travel
needs have changed and I look forward to experiencing ‘Travelling with
Kids’ for myself! |
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Arlene Aronson
Travel
With Kidz Consultant
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Years in the industry – 22 years |
| Favourite places I have visited: Mauritius, Vietnam, Croatia, Egypt, China, New Zealand |
| Personal life or travel experiences: Whether is has been relaxing on a beach in Mauritius, climbing the Great Wall of China, getting drenched at Victoria Falls or enjoying the stillness of the African bush, each destination visited brings with it it’s own very special memories. Having three children aged 16, 14 and 7, the quest for the perfect family holiday has proved to be an interesting journey, having to take into account everyone’s different needs and interests. I just recently emigrated from South Africa and am looking forward to experiencing what Australia and beyond has to offer. |
| Places I love to sell, talk about: Africa – a truly unique experience, Mauritius for a superb family holiday and the many cultural and historic destinations that I have had the privilege of visiting over the years. |
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Natalie Smith
Travel
With Kidz Consultant
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Years in the industry – 17 years |
| Favourite places I have visited: Bali, Fiji,
Koh Samuai, Hawaii |
| Personal life or travel experiences: I now
have 2 children and appreciate the needs of families while travelling, having
just flown to London and back with my son Noah. |
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Dawn Sharp
Travel
With Kidz Consultant
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Years in the industry – 15 years |
| Favourite places I have visited: Costa Rica, Peru, Italy, Greek Islands, Australia |
| Personal life or travel experiences: I was first bitten by the travel bug in my late teens when inter-railing around Europe and working in the Greek Islands. In my early twenties I took two years off work to travel to the USA, Mexico, South East Asia and Australia and it was when I returned from this trip that I started working for a large independent UK travel company. Since then I have taken every opportunity to travel and experience new destinations, from climbing amongst toucans and howler monkeys on Arenal, Costa Rica's active volcano, to hiking through rarefied air to see the amazing ruins of Machu Pichu on the Inca Trail and sampling too much chianti during the Sienna Palio in Tuscany. Now that I have two small children, I don't live out of a backpack any more and my budget and opportunities are different, but the wanderlust is still there! |
| Places I love to sell, talk about: I'll happily talk for ages about any of the places I've been to, but I would have to say that Costa Rica is my all-time favourite - it has such a wonderful combination of flora, fauna, people, climate and scenery, I love it so much I got married there! |
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Joanne Farrar
Accounts Department
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Years in the industry – 30 years |
| Favourite places I have visited: Seychelles,
Greek Islands, Egypt |
| Personal life or travel experiences: I originally
joined the travel agency because I loved to travel. I have now been working for
the same company for over 20 years and seen many changes in the travel industry
and in the company. I decided to move from selling to the accounts department
about 10 years ago. |
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The
Team at Travel Specialists Mosman