Sleepless in New Zealand

A colleague being posted to Wellington asked me what I thought of the city and New Zealand . I told him frankly that if I had a choice I would not accept an assignment in Wellington . But for him with a school-going son, it could be an ideal place with the good English speaking education facilities there. Wellington would be too quiet and too far from anywhere for me and I would feel exiled!

I had been to New Zealand twice, once on a holiday and another for a meeting. It is a beautiful country for a visit, to live there is something else. During my holiday there, I had a strange experience.

I arrived Auckland from Sydney and was hosted by a dear friend who showed me around and made me feel really at home. The Maori backdrop of Auckland fascinated me. Two years later when I saw the powerful film “Once Were Warriors”, I began to better understand an aspect of the Maori life widely talked about then.

From Auckland we drove to Rotaroa and stayed with another friend, who had the most beautiful rose garden I ever saw, right by a picturesque river lined with weeping willows that you could row a beat on. It was lovingly tended to by a friendly Tongan (who was pleased to know of my association with my former Oxford classmate Tofa ( Maaulupekatofa Tuita - now the Honourable Lord Tuita, Minister of Minister of Lands, Survey, Natural Resources and Environment, brother-in-law to the present King of Tonga).

The first thing I noticed on arrival in Rotaroa was a nasty smell that permeated the air. I always joked about it that it was as if a giant had let out a huge, endless fart – excuse me!… ( the smelliest place on earth I have ever been to was a city in Peru called CIMBOTE. It was a fish processing and distribution centre and for the life of me, I wondered how people could live there with the perpetual stench. It should enter the Guinness Book of Record as the smelliest place on earth!) It was actually the smell of sulphur from the many hot springs and geysers which was a great attraction in that region.

I really had a wonderful time in Rotaroa, but I was feeling something strange – I had difficulty sleeping.

Leaving my friends there, I flew on to Wellington. It was the most frightening plane landing I ever experienced as Wellington was so windy that the plane shook like crazy!

I stayed with an old South Korean friend and colleague and his family in a beautiful hillside residential of Wellington. We had a very pleasant time together time but by then that strange feeling I had manifested itself even more. I could not sleep at right – not a wink!.

After a few days by which I got more groggy due to lack of sleep, I took a train to Christchurch . I saw more sheep then people during the few hours ride, and shared and empty coach with four noisy men with an endless supply of beer. At some point, I moved away from them and one guy asked, “What’s the matter mate, do we smell?”. Yeah, bingo mate!

My plan was to go on to Queenstown after Christchurch but after two further completely sleepless night, which I simply could not fathom, I went to the travel agent and booked the next flight back to Sydney. I immediately slept normally again upon returning to Sydney .

I related this experience to several people over time until someone, a doctor if I remember correctly, explained that it was a psychological effect of being very far away and cut off from a mainland/continent that resulted in my sleeplessness in New Zealand, which in fact is geographically in the middle of nowhere and far from the nearest mainland continent (talk about being exiled!). I wonder if many people get this feeling when they visited New Zealand , or even if it is a real phenomena!

In 2004, I had a three month sabbatical in Honolulu, Hawaii and before I going I was worried if I would suffer the same effect, Hawaii being even further than any mainland....!

Well, I actually slept like a baby throughout my stay in Hawaii, despite the noisy air con I had to put on to drown out the noise from the busy street my apartment was facing!

So there you have it.