New Zealand : Through the eyes of a Workaholic.

Hey,

Last 2 weeks there has been zero contact between us - taking the partial blame and not laying down the numerous reasons behind why it happened, I thought let me just tell u about the wonderful trip that I had to Coromandel -

We left early Saturday from Auckland - two cars, 9 people - amazing drive, beautiful scenery, pleasant sun and surprisingly no cloud or rain in sight....it was nice to take a well-deserved break from the madness at work - while the CD player non-chalantly played out hummable bollywood numbers...we cruised along the southern-eastern motorway towards Thames...a country town....

In about 15 minutes from Auckland all we could see all around was just meadows, streams, livestock and far spread country homes....not a soul in sight....except a few cars on the motorway...Point be noted - in NZ the man:cattle :: 1:5 !!

Thames was amazing....imagine small houses....with stream in the backyard and a green picturesque mountain beyond that stream.....roads though small and winding were well laid out...no speed breakers, potholes!



After Thames, the rest of the drive - in one word was divine! Sea on the left and mountain on the right.....Kishore Kumar did the rest :) .... "Musafir hun yaroo.....!" well it could not have been more apt for a bunch of BAs working for a project in the far away land of NZ....(BTW its not that bad!)

We stopped on the outskirts of Thames to admire and click the beauty of the sea....envious of the locals who are living in a place worth dying for, we chose to bite our way into some nice homemade crispies (Thanks to Neha - better half of our LEGEND), nut bars, biscuits and washed it down with some juice.....burp!!

Resuming our journey was a difficult decision (place was beautiful...but this was just a start)...'virgin' NZ never looked so vibrant, mesmerizing and inviting :P....

If the Sea was calming....hills were humbling....mother nature had surely thought of decorating NZ as its own home...NZ govt surely had a tough time deciding on the scenic lookouts....we a bunch of 'IT geeks' if given a chance would have labelled the whole mountain as one big scenic lookout....Cameras went into an overdrive.....every turn revealed a better view....misty valleys, distant islands, shinning ponds, green grass, cows (even they looked photogenic)....as Saran paji will put it...."Mind Blowing"!

Surprisingly and with a mixed emotions of thankfully (I still think it ended too soon!)....we reached Coromandal and our motel....the motel was easy to locate (pheeww...)..not empathising with the cruel and highly lop-sided male to female ratio that our project has...the ladies at the motel thought we will be all couples (guy-girl or guy-guy)....7 guys surely made them think on a lazy Saturday morning...with a packet of milk each (for tea and coffee....lol) we entered our rooms .... luckily they were way better than what we had expected (so was deciding on the room partners....lol)

By 12 noon - everyone was just dying to take a dip in the Pacific....engines roared again and the stop was Long way beach....it was a matter of minutes before everyone either went off for either kayaking, din in the ocean or both....warm sun...slight breeze was inviting and no one really cared for a really cold water....except a few sporadic incidents where the body refused to accept the beauty and revolted against the cold water (AD and MB can vouch for it)...the experience was awesome!

All the body needed now was some nice food...NZ green lip mussels and wonderful pasta (for the thankful veggies!) did the trick....live music was overshadowed by the LOUD and now rejuvenated BE team (VP...mixed like salt in water)...admiring the beauty all around - this time it was the waitresses....

Overruling the objections against Laphroaig...MB set out to buy one..democracy prevailed...only to be vetoed by MB himself (his treat after all)....and he bought the much required tonic that the whole team would love to consume at night...details later!

The pack...equipped with maps...rushed towards 'Hot water beach'...

Rest to follow.



Contributed by:

Abhay Mohan| Business Analyst - Retail NGT

L14, Telecom House, 8 Hereford Street, Auckland, NZ

(<3)