An Excellent New Zealand Adventure

How a trip to a foreign policy conference became a hands-on lesson in good foreign relations.

I have been back in New Zealand, the enchanted Land of the Long White Cloud and a place where I once lived, since June 16. During this enjoyable period, I have been reacquainting myself with various parts of the country – Auckland, Northland, and the Coromandel peninsula, attending a conference on Science Diplomacy at the University of Otago's 46th Foreign Policy School in Dunedin, consulting with colleagues at the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and speaking at various branches of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs.

All of this has been most rich and rewarding, and some of the subject matter has even generated interest in the local press. Before getting into any of that, however, here’s an instructive tale.

You never know what lies around the next bend in the road ...

I awoke very early the morning of June 24 in the delightful town of Coromandel. I wanted to see the tip of the peninsula and calculated that I would have just enough time, but first I had to repack so I would be ready for the flight from Auckland to Dunedin at 2:05 p.m. that day. I also wanted to read my emails, have a look at the day's press, and so on.

After a quick breakfast and several cups of coffee, I was on my way by 8 a.m., heading north toward Port Charles. It was a beautiful morning, and I was in stunning natural surroundings with the windows down, the slightly edgy, sensually delicious scent of the native New Zealand bush pouring in, a smile on my face, and not a care in the world.

The road from the village of Colville running south back toward Coromandel is gravel – or, as they say here, unsealed. I was ascending a steep hill not far past Kennedy Bay and just entering a corkscrew turn when I heard the sound of something sliding on gravel. I thought it might have been what New Zealanders call a slip – a landslide.

I slowed almost to a stop. The next thing I saw was a car, out of control, in my lane about three metres away. On my left was a sheer drop, no guardrail, straight off into a ravine, perhaps 60 metres down through forest into a river. On my right was a sheer cliff, cut into the side of the hill in order to construct the road.

Nowhere to go.

I hit the brakes and braced for impact.

SMASH!!!

Head-on. No injuries. Both cars badly damaged, if not wrecked.

I had been crashed into by a car driven by 19-year-old Richard Whale, a local lad working as a butcher’s apprentice in nearby Whitianga. He immediately accepted responsibility and said that he was sorry.

But he was uninsured.

Thanks to the good advice provided by my Wellington friend Tara Durdin, on my visit last year I purchased a cellphone. I contacted the police, informed the rental company of the accident, and provided a heads-up to Air NZ to say that I didn't think I could possibly make my flight. I asked them to pass a message along to the conference organizers to the effect that regrettably I would be unable to make the opening ceremonies and the speech by New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully.

I was glad that no one was hurt but slightly bummed because my plans had been undone and the insurance on the rented car had a NZ$1,000 deductible.