Explore NZ - Day 10 - 17 April 2018 - Gisborne to Wellington

There are alternative routes from Gisborne to Wellington. The straight forward routes are the eastern and the western ones. From Gisborne the route to Napier/Hastings is the same for three alternative routes presented by Google Maps. I took the eastern route via Waipawa, Dannevirke and the Rimutaka range, opting for the foresty route instead of the more coastal western route. For a substantial part of the drive the route was winding, steep and narrow. The driver has to be cautious and responsibly fast to see that traffic does not crawl behind him. Hetal took over the wheels for a short while to feel the exhilarating thrill of driving on the winding road.

By the time we neared Napier we were all for a cup of coffee and drove into the parking lot of a McDonald outlet. We placed our orders at the self-order kiosk at the entrance of the outlet and opted to be served at the counter rather than at the table. After a while I saw the display of our order number on the display counter. When we went to the counter we were told that the order would be serviced from the beverages counter. At the beverages counter we were told that the order would be served on the table. We did wonder how they would locate our table unless they recognized us in person. In the meanwhile, I noticed that many others who had placed orders after us were being served. Repeated attempts at the beverages counter met with the unsmiling “we will serve you at the table” comment. Time was going by without us getting a smell of the coffee we had ordered. Patience ran out and I demanded that the order be cancelled because it was over half hour since we had been at the outlet. A Supervisor was called and I explained the delay that had taken place. She asked the lady who was supposed to serve us and she mumbled something I didn’t understand. The Supervisor processed the refund and I asked for the complaint book. I was astonished when she gave me a scrap of paper and said that I could write on that for the Manager to be shown that! Well, that must be their system. I wrote out the complaint and we trooped out of the outlet. That spoilt our moods and we decided to leave Napier and skip Hastings too. The bigger towns seems to have a different character altogether as compared to the smaller ones, where we felt more welcome and warm.

We drove on for a while but the need for coffee was growing by the minute. We stopped at a small store at the entrance to the Waipawa town. That store had only what Hetal wanted – ice cream. Next to that store was a lovely clock store. From the outside it looked like a museum. It had all sorts of clocks on display, from the old 19^th century ones right up to the present day. The owner of the store told me that clocks of any kind would be restored or repaired in her place. She showed us a few invaluable pieces, some of them restored and the others repaired. All of them had a price mentioned against each. She surprised me by saying that there is heavy demand for such clocks and they fly off the shelf in double quick time. When asked if we could take a few photographs, she was all smiles and said we could of all we could manage.

Once we emerged from the store we were more in need of a cup of coffee. A few hundred meters into the town we spotted a quaint coffee shop called Mumma G's. It was a shop evidently run by three elderly women. One of them welcomed us with a bright smile and a few words of greeting and we were sold on the shop. The place was artistically done up and in a small town such as this, we could make out, everyone knew everyone else. There were smiles and greetings everywhere with questions such as “How are the girls today”, Your husband’s at work?” and “How’s Mum feeling today?” this was a shop run on credibility and acceptance. We were in the right place. The order was served in a short while and we asked for a lemon muffin. That turned out to be delicious. The ghost of McDonalds was buried and rightly so.

Just short of the Remutaka ghat road I stopped for fueling and, unlike in other fuel stations, an attendant completed the fueling. He told me that it had been raining on the ghat road and the conditions were blustery. He warned me to be careful because it was a treacherous drive for those not used to it. That warning was well taken because it started pouring almost immediately thereafter. The wind factor was so high that the car swayed from side to side a few times. The summit of the ghat road is a 500 odd meter stretch. Unfortunately, we could not stop at any of the lookout points because of the weather. Once the ghat road was safely negotiated the weather cleared up and we were treated by brilliant sunshine on the entry to Wellington. The harbor and ferry terminal with the rail system running alongside was an endearingly welcome setting.

We were able to locate the heritage building that housed the Shepherds’ Arms Hotel. The young girl who served in the bar checked us in too. The rooms were on the first floor and we carted the luggage up the wooden floors.  I messaged Reuben that we had reached the city. He agreed to pick us up after 6.15 pm.  After we were settled in the rooms Shukla and I went for a short walk in the neighborhood. The Parliament House and War Memorial were close by and looked impressive with lights on.

Reuben was at the hotel a bit past 6.15 pm. His wife, Keerthi, is the sister of my son-in-law, Kiron. Reuben is the son of the former Director General of Police, Jacob Punnoose IPS. They have been in New Zealand since 2012, where Reuben, an economist, works for the Reserve Bank and Keerthi works for the Income Tax department. Reuben drove us to his large house situated within a ten minute drive of the CBD, where both work. It had been many years since I had met Keerthi and Reuben. I hadn’t met their son, Raffael, before. In a few minutes his initial shyness vanished and then he was all set to show us all that he could from singing to football to games and what not. He circulated and got along with all of us very well.

Over drinks and dinner we discussed with Reuben and Keerthi about the local conditions, their jobs and how they felt being there. It was a very useful conversation that helped us understand New Zealand better. I was introduced to a local pilsner – Panhead – and all of us partook of the wonderful meal of Jeera rice, Naan, Palak Paneer, Potato sabji and chicken curry. Reuben and Keerthi told us of a farm they go to for the Paneer. The organic Paneer was so soft and tasty that it was worth every extra dollar that is paid for it. Keerthi offered a packet of Paneer for us to cook on the way. Not sure of when and where we would be able to use it the offer was politely declined by the ladies. Before we left we took some photographs and I asked Raffa to pose for a selfie with me I told him that in 20 years the photograph will be invaluable because he will become the Prime Minister of New Zealand. The guy didn’t even pause for a breath before saying, “But, in 20 years you will be dead! That was the end to a lovely evening and warm get-together. Reuben dropped us back and we scheduled to start the day the next day at 7 am.