As Kimberley Crossman and her husband Tom Walsh sit on a hill overlooking a gorgeous bay in Fiji, they look very different from the way they did at their recent wedding, held on the scenic but chilly shores of Lake Wakatipu.
In minimal clothing, cameraman Tom, 44, is tanned and fit. Meanwhile glowing Kim, 33, has her hair tousled and clasped loosely on the back of her head, with a small pink flower tucked behind her ear
“We’re here for 10 days, but to be honest, it took us until day seven to start relaxing,” smiles Kim. She’s back on our screens for the second season of Snack Masters NZ, the show on which she and her new hubby first met.
“One of the reasons that I love Tom and he loves me is that we’re not great at relaxing. But we’ve been having lots of adrenaline-filled adventures. We’ve been scuba diving, hiking up to a waterfall and went on a long boat tour. It’s been wonderful.”
The active relaxers have also learned how to make the traditional raw-fish dish kokoda, making their own coconut milk straight from the nut.
“Tom and I secretly want to do Survivor or The Amazing Race. Now that we know how to make kokoda and cook prawns inside bamboo, we’ll be the best contestants,” she laughs.
However, Tom might want to look at his clothing choices. Recalling one of their active Fijian outings, he confesses, “I was wearing my second-favourite pair of togs. They’re old and green, and as we were leaving, I heard this most unfortunate rip. It went right down the front and up the back. I was literally hanging out!”
Fortunately, Tom had his camera gear with him and his drone case worked well as a discreet covering device.
It’s clear the couple are on the same page when it comes to weddings and honeymoons. Thankfully, theirs both went without a hitch. They put the fact things ran so smoothly on their big day down to them both working in film and TV.
“We had a full-on call sheet for the wedding. Everyone knew where they had to be at certain times,” admits Kim. “It did feel like a TV show at times.”
They also confess that the honeymoon has been slickly produced as well. Kim wants to thank her many Instagram followers who sent travel suggestions, which were very helpful in the planning stages. She says, “Fiji has been the perfect location to celebrate our honeymoon. We adore it here.”
The lovebirds spent five nights in the luxurious five-star Nanuku Resort. There, they had a tree-top dinner with a private chef and enjoyed incredible service from the staff. Kim says, “It was the most romantic experience we’ve ever had and the food was exceptional.”
Then they went to Barefoot Kuata in the Yasawa Islands, where the reefs are being replanted with coral every day to restore them to their former glory. The local village benefits from every dollar spent at the resort.
“We’re both keen divers and to see the colours on those reefs – purples, blues, reds and whites – was just mind- blowing,” says Tom.
Continues Kim, “I’ve been studying marine biology and I’m working with World Vision’s 40 Hour Challenge. It’s all about the climate this year, so seeing this village and their school working daily to try to restore this little piece of the world is really awesome.”
But possibly the best thing about the couple’s 10 days in Fiji is that a device-free Kim – whose laptop or phone are never far from her – is learning from Tom how to be more present or, as she says, “be where my feet are a little bit more”.
On one of their dives, the couple communicated underwater by writing notes on a special diver’s pad. Kim left a special message for Tom.
She explains, “It said, ‘Let’s just be here,’ because I was trying to GoPro everything for social media. But Tom’s a big advocate for just being in the moment and not thinking that every minute needs to be productive.”
After the honeymoon, the couple say they’ll head over to LA. Kim’s cats and a pet tarantula are there, and they both have work commitments.
Signing off from our interview, the newlyweds laugh as they realise they’ve both been unconsciously picking insects off each other for the whole chat. Kim grins, “We’ve started grooming each other like baboons – that’s probably been the biggest change for us since getting married!”
