Competition Winners Spice it Up in Dubai and Turkey

Media release: November 5 , 2012

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Competition Winners Spice it Up in Dubai and Turkey

Purchasing hot water cylinders turned into an exciting whirlwind adventure through the souks and bazaars of Dubai and Turkey for two lucky competition winners and their travel partners.

Matamata local Rene Thomson together with Ivan and Jess Ramsey from Rinnai (previously with HJ Cooper) and Henni and Bridget Russon from Nelson won a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity through a special promotion run by Mico Plumbing and Mastertrade for their loyal business customers.

Their trip also included the chance to visit the state of the art factory of one the suppliers of the HJ Cooper electric hot water range just on the outskirts of Istanbul.

Henni Russon says that visiting the factory was definitely a highlight of the trip.

"We went on a guided tour of the whole factory which makes gas boilers, woodfire boilers, hot water cylinders, solar panels, basically everything on water heating. It was fascinating watching how all these things were put together, and checking out the whole process from start to finish. Bridget and I were beyond thrilled when we found out that we had won, and can't speak highly enough about the trip."

Russon says the group spent about three days in Dubai and three days in Istanbul, where they had many exotic adventures including a desert tour, visiting mosques and other historical buildings and trying out "shisha" - an apple flavoured tobacco mix smoked through a hookah, or water pipe.

"The highlight of the trip in Dubai was definitely the desert tour. It was hot and sandy, but you got to go in a big 4WD and drive around and at the end of the trip, they have a camp site in the middle of the desert where you stop for a barbecue meal. There were some belly dancers to provide entertainment."

"In Istanbul we went into some very interesting old buildings, some of which were built in 1100BC and some of them in 900BC. Our tour guide was a local and she was really great, and told us a lot about the rich culture and history of the city."

"We went through a record number of hot water cylinders in Motueka through our business, Henbridge Plumbing to win the prize package.

Rene Thomson from Comag Ltd says that he was also excited and a little stunned at winning the Spice It Up competition.

"There are eight business partners and it could potentially have been a bit of a minefield if all of us had wanted to go on the trip, but in the end, I was the only one available to go."

Thomson says that the highlight of the trip was definitely Turkey.

"I really enjoyed Dubai as well, but felt that Istanbul had a pretty amazing culture. We really went into the heart of the city and explored the Grand Bazaar and the Blue Mosque, which was built around 1609 - it is a stunning piece of architecture. The Grand Bazaar was just really fun and next time I go back to Turkey, I'm bringing my wife there to do a spot of shopping!"

The Spice It Up competition was run exclusively through Mico Plumbing and Mastertrade - with entry into the competition achieved with purchases of HJ Cooper water heating products.

ENDS

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