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| My little house in Hobbiton |
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| The Green Dragon - a real pub - in Hobbiton |
A lot of people have asked me why I chose to move to New
Zealand. And why New Zealand? Frankly, I have no idea – I don’t know the
answers to those questions. All I know
is that it just came upon me one day. When exactly, that too I do not
know. Was it because of the movies The
Lord of the Rings? It could be. I am not sure – though I doubt it was because I
have never associated the Middle Earth with New Zealand. Yes, I know the shots in the movie (including
the Hobbiton) was in NZ. But even now – while I have visited the Hobbiton, I
still don’t associate any of it with NZ. So how did this come about? Your guess
is as good as mine.
All I know is that one day I just said it out loud that I
would want to move to NZ one day. And that was quite a long while ago – and way
before I even visited NZ. And what did I know of NZ then? Not much other than
what I learnt in Geography in secondary school – that there are lots of sheep
and cattle there. But I had a sense of peace and tranquillity associated with
the country.
People kept telling me to go visit the country to see if it
is anything like I think it is, but I didn’t even know where to begin. Where do
I visit? How do I go about finding a place in NZ to visit? I mean there are so
many cities and such. And then in 2013 –
the opportunity arose. A team from the
university I was attached to was selected to represent Malaysia in an
international dodgeball competition. To
be absolutely honest, I didn’t even know what Dodgeball is other than what I
got from a movie (comedy) long before that.
Wasn’t very impressed with the movie, so never took an interest in the
sports. But here it was – an opportunity
for me. Why was it an opportunity? Because I didn’t have to select what city to
visit. I would just go where the team
would be going to offer them some support. It served two purposes for me – one,
I thought it would be great if the team felt supported by having a member of
the Management Team from the University present with them; and two, I would get
to visit NZ and check it out without having to figure out where to go.
Turned out, I was to visit two places in NZ – Auckland and
Queenstown. So, I decided to take leave
from the University and made my plans to match the itinerary for the team so
that I would be there when they reached NZ.
Of course I packed in time for myself so that I could so some exploring
on my own. And that I did.
Auckland turned out to be no attraction for me. And it was good that it happened such that
Auckland became the second place for me to visit during that trip. While I
landed first in Auckland, it was simply an entry point where I took a
connecting flight almost immediately and flew on toe Queenstown. I spent
several days in Queenstown and loved every minute I was there. I can’t even
begin to describe to you the sense of wonder and awe when after landing at the
airport I got into a rented car and drove to my hotel. Well, actually I didn’t drive. I was driven by a friend who had gone alone
for the trip. That gave me the
opportunity to truly look around and marvel at the sights all around me. The
scene was just amazing! It was so beautiful and serene. I felt so much at
peace. As someone said: it was like
coming “home.” I was convinced more than
ever then that this was indeed a place I want to live in.
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| Arrowtown |
During the next few days – among the places I visited two
that stands out the most was going to Arrowtown as well as a tour to Milford
Sounds. Arrowtown is a little town not
too far from Queenstown. Again, a sense
of calm and peace there. It reminded me much of the first place I went to in
the US (when I was there to pursue my undergraduate degree). That town was Richmond, Kentucky. A small university town – but things
generally felt like they were moving at a gentle pace – and while not like an
old country western town – it is what we would think of small town America.
Milford Sound was yet another experience. Before the trip to NZ, a couple of friends
had mentioned to me that I “must” make a trip to Milford Sound. I didn’t even know what it was then –
thinking it was some musical concert or place like that (yeah seriously that’s
what I thought – don’t laugh – it’s true).
Perhaps it is some famous place like the Philharmonic or Sydney Opera
House or something like that. But I
thought – what the heck. Since I have no
specific plans other than just going to NZ, I signed up for a one day trip to
MS. The drive up there (we took a bus)
was amazing. The winding roads along the
hillside – the scenery, the fresh air – everything was just amazing. And when we finally got there and boarded the
boat which was to take us out – breath-taking!! The waterfalls – so many of
them. To imagine the water flowing everyday 365 days a year without stop. This
was no movie I was watching. It was the real thing and truly surreal!!
(to be continued)
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