\u201cWe invite ourselves into people\u2019s homes every day. And so I get that when I\u2019m not there, people might ask, \u2018Oh, hang on a minute, where\u2019s Hilary?\u2019 because Jeremy [Wells] and I are part of their daily routines.\u201d<\/p>\n
So when Barry was away for two weeks in August, travelling on a luxury train safari of Africa, she made sure to give viewers notice and updates to save them from guessing. <\/p>\n
\u201cI do try to give a hint of where I am, so people aren\u2019t worried. But with the Africa trip, it was easy to share some photos of where I actually was, so that people would know and not be concerned,\u201d says Barry. <\/p>\n
Hilary Barry spots elephants in Africa. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
But does it ever irk the host that she can\u2019t even take a rail trip without letters to the editor? <\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it means people are watching. I look at it from the other point of view, which is, it\u2019s lovely that people are watching and that they care,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
And they need not be concerned; the host was travelling on an exclusive charter, with all the bells and whistles: fine dining, luxe private cabins and surprising amounts of glamour in the heart of South Africa and Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n
A deluxe double suite on an exclusive Rovos Rail charter. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Barry and husband Michael explored national parks, including Chobe and Hwange, where they woke to giraffes and baboons outside their room on board, and witnessed mother elephants caring for their babies at waterholes. <\/p>\n
For Barry, these weren\u2019t just incredible sightings to snap a pic of and move on \u2013 they were bucket-list encounters she says she will never forget. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to go and do some of the game parks in Africa,\u201d says Barry, who had previously been to Africa three times before with work, but never as a tourist. <\/p>\n
A lion was on Hilary Barry’s must-see list. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was great to go as a tourist, and also to spend some time in the game parks too. And also to have an amazing time on the luxury train that was like something out of a movie \u2013 if you\u2019ve seen Murder on the Orient Express, not that there was any of that going on,” she says, with a laugh. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe actually did have a little murder mystery game, though. But you honestly felt like you were in some sort of movie set. It was that old worldly kind of train experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The exterior of the Rovos Rail train. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Barry says the trip was made particularly special by the route the train took, which allowed them to explore the enormous game parks by train and safari vehicle and reach areas not widely populated by tourists. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere was one case where the train stopped and we were skirting the edges of the game park. So from the train, I saw a giraffe and baboons and things \u2013 you\u2019re right there.\u201d<\/p>\n
A giraffe was spotted on the safari tour with Hilary Barry. Photo \/ Viva Expeditions<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess that proximity was really an incredible thing for me to experience,\u201d says Barry, noting the train\u2019s slow speed also forced her, a naturally busy person, to slow down and question if her usual style of travel would translate to the Viva Expedition. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a person who lives her life at 100 miles an hour. I work, work, work. I\u2019m doing this, I\u2019m doing that \u2013 I\u2019ve got a lot on my plate and being on a trip like this forces you to slow down and take time and everything. <\/p>\n
\u201cI adapted to that amazingly quickly. So that surprised me about myself.\u201d <\/p>\n
The group went from their train to a safari vehicle to get even closer to the action. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
The 55-year-old says favourite spots included Kruger, a 19,485sq km game park in South Africa, and Chobe, bordering Botswana and Zimbabwe, where she was able to tick off a bucket-list experience. <\/p>\n
\u201cI came back from that trip [Chobe] absolutely fizzing because I\u2019d seen lions. I\u2019d gone away wanting to have one animal that would make my day, and for me, it was definitely lions. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo the anticipation built and then suddenly on the last trip to the last safari park to see lions, I was fizzing like a child, just overexcited,\u201d says Barry. <\/p>\n
Now she\u2019s back on our shores, with the stories to tell and photos to prove it, Barry admits it\u2019s been hard to settle back into normal life after some life-altering encounters and seeing conservation efforts in action. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always a bit of a downer, isn\u2019t it?\u201d Barry says with a laugh, \u201cWhen you\u2019ve been on a lovely trip away and then it\u2019s back to the coalface. But I can see the end-of-year horizon is just down there, tantalisingly close.\u201d<\/p>\n
And what are her summer plans, and are there any more trips on the horizon for the broadcaster that viewers should be warned of? <\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband is a big David Gray [the British singer] fan, and David Gray is sadly not coming to New Zealand, but he is going to Australia. So there will be a couple of concerts that we go to in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hilary Barry says the slower pace of the trip forced her to slow down and soak it in. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
As for summer, Barry is mostly staying put and, like most Kiwis, trying to find a good beach, some good weather and a touch of hope in 2026. <\/p>\n
\u201cA summer holiday is next. But we were talking to an economist on Seven Sharp, and the phrase used to be \u2018Survive \u2018til 25\u2032, and now it\u2019s \u2018Let\u2019s get this fixed in 26\u2032, so I\u2019m focused on that. Come on, 2026 \u2013 let\u2019s have a great year!\u201d<\/p>\n
Hilary was hosted on Africa by Rail by Viva Expeditions as part of a paid partnership<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe invite ourselves into people\u2019s homes every day. And so I get that when I\u2019m not there, people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90779,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[68227,68224,433,10466,95,184,68223,156,1017,45640,305,183,12022,2944,68225,206,68226,111,139,69,4517,207,188,8601,202,203,165,39163,1530,24750],"class_list":["post-90778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-7pm","tag-accustomed","tag-adventure","tag-african","tag-and","tag-barry","tag-barrys","tag-entertainment","tag-exclusive","tag-grown","tag-have","tag-hilary","tag-host","tag-inside","tag-lounges","tag-luxury","tag-mondayfriday","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-past","tag-rail","tag-safari","tag-seeing","tag-seven","tag-sharp","tag-their","tag-tvnzs","tag-years","tag-zealanders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90778"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90778\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}