Chain of events

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Flash back to the summer of 2006. We are standing on the curb of the road on one of the coldest and windiest Scottish islands, a huge pack sack at the shoulder, and thumb in the air. We’re waiting. Steph is all smiles, because she is sending the request to the Universe for my first hitchhiking experience to be an unforgettable one. Well, she hits the bull’s-eye: a few minutes later, a 1972 convertible Triumph suddenly appears on the horizon. Leon, a wealthy New Zealander tourist stops and picks us up. Finding us friendly, he cancels his golf game and spends the day visiting the dramatic coast of the Isle of Skye with us.

Flash forward to our last week in Australia. As always, so it seems, we are sharing an excellent dinner at Julie and Martin’s. We talk about travels, and random meetings. We’re leaving for New Zealand in three days and suddenly, a flash goes through our minds. LEON! We should contact him and ask him to come have a beer with us during our stay there. Arriving late at Andy and Laurren’s, another random meeting that provided us with excellent friends, I turn on my computer and send a message into the night, not even knowing if I have a valid email address.

The next morning, two days from our departure, I receive an expeditious email from Leon. “I would have loved to see you again, but I am presently in Hong Kong. However, I have a cabin in the North of the island. You can use it as long as you want... A 4x4 vehicle is also waiting for you there. Oh, and don’t hesitate to use my boat if you feel like it. But, since it’s far from Auckland, I arranged for you to use my small car to drive around town. Have fun!”

So here we are, driving an Alfa Romeo, travelling up and down the sinuous roads of New Zealand countryside, picking up the trail of Leon. That car allowed us to reach isolated places, to get to a faraway vineyard and give them a hand, to learn how to pick mandarin oranges, to prune grape vines, where we met a local horticulturist who graciously brought us on a 6 h deep sea fishing trip, where I managed to catch an 8 lb Snapper. That same night, we ate the Snapper the horticulturist’s friendly mate cooked for us at their place. Transported by that small car, we visited affluent falls and found an abandoned gold mine, where glow worms and giant Weta reside. All that, in only 10 days. A chain of events starting more than 4 years ago allowed us to really enjoy a country where people are extremely friendly and the hills remind us every day of the hills of Scotland, where it all began.

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