New Year's Eve diners at Kerikeri restaurant The Italians enjoyed a particularly evening thanks to Neil Mayfield and his long-time girlfriend Tracey Tutin.
Silence descended when Neil dropped to one knee, produced a ring and asked Tracey to marry him.
"I couldn't speak at first," a tearful Tracey said, as nearby diners stopped eating to hear her response. She revived sufficiently to say yes, and not only because that was what her fellow patrons were clearly waiting to hear.
Tracey, who is the manager of the Westpac Bank in Paihia, and Neil, who began working for Carpet Court in Kerikeri a couple of months ago, lived just an hour away from each other in the UK but met three years ago in Kerikeri, when Neil, originally from Nottingham, arrived in the Far North to pick fruit for what he imagined would be a year-long OE.
"I didn't know anything about New Zealand whatsoever, and when five friends decided to come here I came with them," he said.
