< Disclaimer> < Return To Issue Article Index >

“You don’t want to do that, mate. The water’s freezing. Two minutes in there and I’ll be using your stiff spine as an extra oar.” I want to explain to Mike that I’m trying to optimally position myself to vomit off the kayak without tipping myself over, but the gagging at the back of my throat leaves little time for corrections. I thought I was made for this outdoor nature sport, but Mike would like me to rely on a more Empiricist point of view. Doing things for yourself, not just out of necessity, but for the experience goes practically with everything in New Zealand. Wellington, the harbour capital of the island nation, is the place to live if you want to be in the centre of all the things to try.  Wellington is, perhaps, the most geographically puzzling capital of a developed nation. At the southernmost tip of Norht island and charactized by a massive blue harbour, steep green hills, narrow table valleys and blasting winds that fit seamlessly together in a relaxed city of less than a half million. Out of the total population only about half live in the actual city. Many have moved to the surrounding areas such as Johnsonville, Khandallah, Porirua and Eastbourne towards the Northwest and Northeast. For those who forgo the hill life and harbour view there’s the Upper and Lower Hutt. The Hutt Valley, comprising both the Lower and Upper Hutt, is the most densely populated of these areas. This is where I hang my hat for now.

Moving from the calm suburbs to the city isn’t a jolt like most big cities. It’s about as much of a shift in speed as is an iceberg accelerating. The majority of the people in Wellington work in professional fields as opposed to the rest of the country which is primarily in services and sales. Wellington is home to the politicians, technocrats, bureaucrats, and diplomats more than the tourists. The fact that the tourism industry has also promoted other cities, like Christchurch and Dunedin, with greater ferocity has allowed Wellington to develop at a more natural pace without the artificial ambience of a planned city like Islamabad or Brasilia. The city is a mess of hills with a central burgeoning business district in the Lambton Quay. Reclaiming land from the sea has allowed for the much needed expansion of business without disrupting the natural backdrop of the hills. The downtown area hosts cafes, museums, theaters, movie halls, art galleries, and just about most imaginable diversions. Courtenay Place is the night life hub with large clubs, fancy restaurants and relaxed coffeehouses all on one stretch of street, a lot like Bourbon St. in New Orleans. All year round each weekend will see several cultural and entertainment programs. An exhibition on Martin Luther King at the Parliament house will fall in the middle of the Wellington film festival, with scores of Latin movies of the last few years, as well as a sold-out performance of comedian Eddie Izzard at the Opera House, along with a concert rendition of “The Wall” by The Pink Floyd Experience. I stopped wondering why Wellington, while not the biggest city, is the cultural and entertainment center of the nation. What’s still hard to believe is that the hotels in town offer their lowest rates during the weekend. Apparently, Wellingtonians take advantage of the weekend to escape to South Island or the nearby areas up north for camping, trekking, mountain-biking, river rafting or all the 
other outdoor sports that they can’t seem to get enough of. 

Wellington is an unusually young city to be standing in the center of the sophisticated, artistic group in a drop dead evening dress catching everyone’s eye. The first arrival to this area is credited to the Polynesian explorer Kupe, in the 10th century, who originally named it Te Upoko o te Ika a Maui. In Maori this means, “The head of Maui’s fish.” The next explorer was Tara, son of a legendary Polynesian chief named Whatonga. Whatonga had settled on the Hawkes Bay coast, to the Northeast of Wellington. Whatonga sent Tara and his half-brother on a journey to explore the southern parts of the North Island sometime in the 12th century. When Tara returned over a year later he reported that the best place he had found was “at the very nostrils of the island.” Shortly after this Whatonga and his followers moved south and founded the first iwi (tribe) in Wellington called Ngai Tara. Wellington was at this time named, Te Whanga-Nui-a-Tara, or the great harbour of Tara.
.

With the arrival of the first European settlers on the New Zealand Company’s ship Aurora in 1840, the first strains of colonization began. William Wakefield is, perhaps, the most renowned of the colonists, having established many of the major cities in both North and South Island. His idea was to develop Wellington as two separate cities: a commercial centre by the Port Nicholson harbour (the official but seldom used name for the Wellington harbour); and an agricultural hub further north. Land rights dispute erupted at this point with the Maori who denied selling the land to the New Zealand Company and continued for more than thirty years, and, to a minor degree, still affect it today.  The name, Wellington, is a representation of the marked influence that Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) exacted over the New Zealand Company. The intended name had been Britannia, but the defeater of Napoleon took a greater liking to his own. Reclamation of land from the sea began in earnest in 1852 and continues. Auckland was the first major capital of New Zealand but the colonial administration grew fearful that the gold rich southern regions would try to form a separate colony. In November 1863 Alfred Domett moved a resolution in the Parliament at Auckland that “it has become necessary that the seat of government…should be transferred to some suitable locality in Cook Strait.” Wellington became the capital of New Zealand in 1863 and was conferred city status in 1886.

 Present day Wellington displays all the bared teeth of a hunting tigress, as presented through the city’s ambitious youth. 28.8% of the population of Wellington is aged between 20-34, compared with 20.5% for the rest of the country. Almost 25% speak at least two languages, well below the national average of less than 20%. Wellington has the highest levels of education, personal income and lowest unemployment levels when placed alongside the rest of New Zealand. The varied ethnic composition of Wellington boasts a large array of minorities but not as satisfactory a margin as Sandra Day O’Connor would deem diverse enough. A sizeable 72.6% (NZ 69.8%) are the Pakeha, the Maori word for those of European descent, 7.3% Maori (NZ 14.1%), 4.5% Pacific Islanders (NZ 5.4%), and 10% (NZ 6.1%) are Asian. Not that I ever think race makes much difference in New Zealand. New Zealand, and especially Wellington, is easily the most colour-blind nation I have ever come across.

I hadn’t been in Wellington long. Just long enough to know I liked something about it, but I needed to know more. The most common reply from immigrants when asked why they decided to stay in New Zealand was consistently, “The people here are wonderful.” I found myself agreeing too often. “Nice people” is something you can find anywhere. Agreeable people, polite people, smiling people, willing to point out directions people, hold the elevator for you people; there’s always a stiff waiting room full of them to be found in a dentist’s office in almost any country. Nah, we’re talking about ‘Wonderful people’. The people who look at you like they got out of bed that morning just to see if you needed anything. They’ll laugh, smile, tell you jokes, recommend a good movie, invite you to join them on a weekend mountain trek and all you wanted out of the operator was the number for a store that sells ski-masks close to the banks. The bizarre aspect of it all to a cynic, like me, is how it’s all managed with unobtrusiveness, charm, and what, undoubtedly, must be kindness. After many goggle-eyed, gaping-mouth encounters and a ballpark million thankyou’s I decided to investigate the phenomena. 
.

I was standing in line at the downtown immigration office clutching my work-permit form. In Wellington standing in line is just about as pleasant an experience as everything else. The Korean gentleman in front of me and I were discussing our possible job prospects along with the American who had just ambled up behind us. All systems in New Zealand work strictly and efficiently by their written guidelines. It’s hard to come across anyone willing to take a bribe, and much harder to find someone who would know what to do with it except perhaps report you to the police. This makes bureaucratic processes in New Zealand just a simple matter of completing paperwork. Trying to apply this policy, just about any place, while holding an Indian passport, however, irrefutably makes the bearer feel as if they have committed a minor, yet inconsequential, misdemeanor. I wasn’t worried, though. I had everything required: a letter certifying a job offer, a contract specifying all duties, a letter from the employer stating why they thought a New Zealander couldn’t perform this job, proof that the employer had attempted to find New Zealanders qualified for the position, and copies of my resume and degrees. The Korean gentleman had a much lighter load since his job offer fell under the “Occupational Shortages List” set out by the government. Heavy on agricultural and information technology, the occupations listed here are the ones that don’t require much more than proof of the candidate’s qualifications and a job offer for a work permit.

.
I shifted my attention towards the American behind me. He introduced himself as Mike and handed out a business card. It had the name of a very prestigious auditing firm and under his profession it said in bright gold: Chartered Public Accountant. At 6’3”, with a strong, muscular build, and no signs of a pocket-protector nor eye-glasses this was the least convincing accountant I had ever come across. He was in here just to pick up his Permanent Resident papers. I lowered my head with mock admiration. He had gotten through the process relatively quickly. Due to the huge backlog of applicants, to even be considered for permanent residency there is a waiting period of 6 months before the applicant’s file is even touched. Mike was walking out with his residency at 8 months after the application date. Credit for this goes to recent changes in the immigration policy. Using a point-based system immigration can decide whether to allow residency based on the sum of education, age, years of New Zealand employment experience, available funds, and a few other factors to a total number of points. Currently, if that total reaches 29 out of more than 50 points using any combination of factors, you qualify. Simple, straightforward, and fair. 
.

< Send a Letter to the Editor > < Subscribe  > < Submit An Article >< Disclaimer>