Bert ten Broeke and Paul Klass, the hitchhiker he gave a lift to in 1980.
Bert ten Broeke and Paul Klass, the hitchhiker he gave a lift to in 1980.
A chance meeting in 1980 turned into a friendship spanning decades for one Paraparaumu man.
That chance meeting took place when Bert ten Broeke was in his 60s, and was driving home to Bulls from Wellington.
He recalls seeing a hitchiker on the road, and stopping to pick him up.
That hitchhiker was American Paul Klass, who was in his early 20s and had just arrived in Wellington from Christchurch after flying in from Antarctica.
Bert, who has just turned 100, said Klass told him he was working as a spokesman in Antarctica and had actually warned New Zealand of the dangers of flying over there prior to the Erebus crash.
“He warned the New Zealand Government ‘Don’t come too close here with big planes because you can’t land here’ and New Zealand didn’t take any notice, and they hit the bloody mountain.”
Bert ten Broeke, who turned 100 on October 9, holds the card he received from King Charles and Queen Camilla. Photo / Grace Odlum
Paul told Bert he flew back to Christchurch and then to Wellington and was aiming to get to Rotorua.
Bert, who now lives in the Sevenoaks retirement village, couldn’t take Paul all the way to Rotorua, but he was able to take him to his home in Bulls, where the two shared fish and chips from the Hungry Bull and Paul spent the night.
When Paul went on his way, Bert told him to come back to Bulls on his way back down, and he would take him back into Wellington – and he did just that.
The two have kept in touch ever since, sending about three or four emails a day.
But they hadn’t seen each other in person since then – and now following Bert’s 100th birthday on October 9, the pair have met again.
Paul and his daughter came to New Zealand from the United States and stayed with Bert’s daughter Sue so they could attend his party on Sunday.
Bert ten Broeke and Netherlands ambassador Ard van der Vorst.
Bert’s daughter-in-law Anna said Paul was so happy to see Bert at the party and said how grateful he was for the friendship Bert had shown him all those years ago.
Paul wasn’t the only special guest on the day for Bert, who moved to New Zealand from the Netherlands after World War II.
His cousin and niece came from the Netherlands, and the Netherlands ambassador to New Zealand, Ard van der Vorst, also came to wish Bert many happy returns.
“Ard gave a speech and said that if Bert beats the New Zealand world record [of oldest person] which is 112, the ambassador will come again,” said Anna.
And Bert got lots of birthday cards from important people too – including King Charles, Ōtaki MP Tim Costley, and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
And when asked what he attributed turning 100 to, Bert had some great advice.
“It’s determination – when we were kids we were told by my mother if you do something, do it 100%, otherwise don’t bloody do it, and everything I have done in my life I have finished.”
