B + B staff | Hulmes Court B & B

Hulmes Court Staff - We'd Love You to Stay

Norman and Zina Norman who owns Hulmes Court and is your host is a true born and bred Kiwi from a family of settlers who arrived in the 1800s. He was educated in NZ and London, studying geography, history, philosophy and economics and he's stood for parliament twice. He is still young (or that's what he thinks) at 44. Most importantly there is his wife Zina. She grew up in Vladivostok Russia and is of course fluent in Russian. She loves gardening and cooking and meeting people from overseas. Norman started his own advertising business 19 years ago in Dunedin and Queenstown, and also owns a large plastic factory which makes all kinds of things including toys!! Visit the factory at www.epiplastics.co.nz. And! he has just started an online shop called thefactoryshop.co.nz Norman and Zina have travelled widely and love meeting and entertaining people from around New Zealand and the world. Norman also have a new personal homepage. To the right is a small video where Norman says hello and starts a tour around Hulmes Court. To see other videos click on Bedrooms where there are videos of the rooms or the Solstice & Jimmy Cat videos.
Grace Boos Grace was born in Edmonton, the capital of Alberta in Canada and can speak French. She moved to New Zealand 13 years ago, she came here with her parents who now live in Rotorua in the North Island. Grace is studying Law and Classics at the University of Otago and is in 5th and last year. Grace loves to travel and has just come back from South America where she explored Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil for nearly 3 months. She has done a lot of ballet and other dance, she also plays the piano.
Rachel Carson Born in Wellington, Rachel moved to Ashburton when she was 7. She's travelled throughout New Zealand, including living in the West Coast for 6 months. Just recently she went on a long trip to France. She is learning to speak French now. In the photo on the right you see Rachel with Solstice Jnr when he was a Kitten, he is much much bigger now.
Danielle Servant Danielle has been with us for two years. She is studying Tourism, French and German at The University of Otago. Danielle is half Kiwi half French, visiting France three times. She says, “the best thing about working at Hulmes Court is learning from our guests all about their home country.” She grew up in Oamaru, which is a small city about 90 minutes drive north of Dunedin. Oamaru is famous for its Victorian Festival and its Little Blue Penguins. Her favorite foods are pastries and chocolates. She loves travel, summer, Europe and her friends and family. The photo below is Danielle in Paris. If you stay over summer you will probably meet Danielle as she will be coming on full time during the university summer holidays.
Alice Johnstone Alice joined the team at Hulmes Court in November 2008. This year she was a student across the road at Otago Girls High School, one of the oldest schools of its type in the world (see Wikipedia), next year she is studying Occupational Therapy at the local polytechnic. Alice grew up and has lived her whole life in Dunedin. Interestingly, Alice's parents have moved to Australia (like many Kiwis) but Alice has decided to stay behind. Maybe they forgot her :) just kidding.
Phil Soper Phil is Hulmes Court's night manager. So if you get up early you are likely to meet Phil. Phil is from Invercargill which is the southern most City in New Zealand. He spent many years in the Navy and travelled all around the world on our ships. Interestingly, Phil loves animals and is the local chief executive of the SPCA - the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. So when Phil isn't at Hulmes Court he is out keeping little critters happy.
Ann Swolfs Ann was born in Belgium but is now a Kiwi. She can talk to you all about immigrating to NZ and why she decided this was the best place in the world to live. She has a management degree from Otago University, and now works for Norman as his full time personal assistant/manager. She has travelled lots and worked in all kinds of interesting places. The photo below is with her Scottish husband Craig. Dunedin was founded by Scottish settlers.	Click here to have a look at Ann's house.
Kay-Anne van Zyl Kay-Anne was born in South Africa, but moved with her family to New Zealand going to High School in Masterton. Kay-Anne is very intelligent, being accepted into Medical School but deciding instead on European Studies including French and a Law degree. Her interests have included rifle shooting.
Solstice Solstice is our resident cat. He thinks he is the boss and that we are there to feed him and give him lots of attention. He loves guests and is very very friendly. Solstice is named after the day he turned up all wet and cold looking for a home - the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year). He certainly made himself at home at Hulmes Court - so should you! Click here to visit his homepage. Or!!!!! become my friend on facebook:
Jimmy Jimmy was a stray cat too. He is a very pushy cat, once he decided that Hulmes Court was his home that was that - no matter what Solstice thought!!. Jimmy is very friendly and always on the go, he doesn't have a very long attention span, and we don't think he is as smart as Solstice. Solstice is still the boss, but is more interested in sleeping and eating so doesn't push Jimmy around too much. They aren't the best of friends, but you'll often find them together - they like to know where each other is all the time.