Editor-at-large Shayne Currie spent the last two weeks on the NZ Herald-MTF Great New Zealand Road Trip, travelling the length of the country meeting extraordinary New Zealanders.
Editor-at-large Shayne Currie spent the last two weeks on the NZ Herald-MTF Great New Zealand Road Trip, travelling the length of the country meeting extraordinary New Zealanders and uncovering great stories from our communities. He’s made some lifelong friends along the way and learnt a few lessons. To close off the series, we’re also giving out the Great NZ Road Trip Awards.
For me, it came in the form of a hug in the kitchen of Henare O’Keefe’s Hawke’s Bay home, as he sent me on my way with a karakia following our interview. O’Keefe has just been named the region’s business leader of the year – in part for a lifetime of community work, but more lately as the official “ambassador” of Hastings. I reckon more towns and cities can learn from his role – and how how he enriches and emboldens his community.
It came in the form of a cup of tea and a generous plate of biscuits in the seaside home of 85-year-old Mama Jewel Sucichin one of our most isolated settlements, Te Hāpua, in Northland. She eyed me a little suspiciously at first, but as we shared a cuppa, she related some extraordinary stories, including walking alongside Dame Whina Cooper at the start of her famous land march in 1975.
Mama Jewel Sucich, 85, has lived in Te Hāpua for 65 years.
That hospitality was extended wherever I ventured – a coffee with the remarkable Don Pelvin,who’s set up the Geraldine Military Museum with all manner of rare vehicles.
A coffee with Sounds Air chief executive Andrew Crawford in Blenheim – he said yes to an interview with barely an hour’s notice, as I drove off the ferry from Wellington.
Good Kiwis, from all walks of life, willing to share their stories. And there were so many good stories to write – Liam Gavintook me into the heart of his mānuka honey operation; Riley Elliottis a superstar on the world stage – a marine scientist whose love of sharks is helping change the narrative; Lyn Tankersley is leading the charge to build a shelter for more than a dozen homeless people in Masterton; and Lance Giles and Jordana Stottare pouring more than $10 million of their own money into a personal dream – their own feature film – and are adamant about wanting to invest in the Queenstown region.
Every town and community welcomed me. In Waihau Bay, I met Haven Benton, 16, who was serving behind the counter of the store made famous by Taika Waititi’s Boy film. She spoke articulately of her dream to train as a paramedic in Wellington so that she could one day return to the community where emergency help is a long distance away.
Haven Benton at the Waihau Bay store – she featured as a small child in the movie Boy.
Similarly, first-year university student Summer Spragg was behind the counter at Karaka Lobster on State Highway 1 north of Kaikōura – she’s studying communications and Spanish, and could easily be a brilliant marketer if she chooses that path with the way she talked up the crays on sale.
I’m not trying to be too Pollyanaish. Times have been tough and still are in many parts of the country, but there also appears to be hope and a fair bit of optimism seeping through.
In places like Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay, where many of the highways are still being pieced together following Cyclone Gabrielle, there is resilience. (This year I travelled mainly down the east coast of both islands, following my journeys to Southland, the West Coast and Taranaki last year.)
This is what Henare O’Keefe told me: “We’ve decided that we’re not going to bleed into the future anymore. We’re not going to play the victim anymore. We’ll grieve, we’ll get mad, we’ll get angry. But then sooner or later, you’ve got to embrace it and face it and that’s what we’ve done here. It’s unbelievable, unbelievable.”
‘We don’t know how lucky we are’ – do we?
More than 43,000 people responded to our admittedly very unscientific “Mood of the Country” online poll over the past two weeks.
We asked how you felt, with 1 being ‘meh’ and 10 being ‘joyful, happy as’.
As of Monday afternoon, 40% of people rated their mood between an 8 and a 10, and 76% rated themselves 5 (”so so”) or higher.
Compare that to the exact same poll and question last year, for which we had 33,000 respondents. In 2023, 39% of people were an 8, 9 or 10 and 74% were a 5 or higher.
Our Nine Questions With ... columns featuring notable and noteworthy New Zealanders came up a range of pearlers.
Great Southern Television founderPhil Smith nailed it when he cited Bruce McLaren as the New Zealander (alive or dead) that he most admires.
“A visionary, a creative, a fearless champion. We have to learn from him. We are still so stupid that we ship fish, meat, wood and milk in bulk overseas.
“We need to use our amazing brainpower and enhance these primary products – we need to energise our creativity. Our future is limited by these bulk commodities. And it’s all carbon toxic. Foreign buyers hate this.
“But selling ideas and intellectual property? It has no cap. Unlimited potential. Take a page from Singapore. This is our future. And Bruce McLaren did that. Now let’s get Liam Lawson in a McLaren and play the NZ national anthem when NZ rocks F1!”
Liam Gavin beekeeper/apiarist and owner of Gavins Apiaries in Titoki. Photo / Shayne Currie
There are so many innovators and inspiring people in this country – check out the other Nine Questions with respondents, for starters.
I loved that The Chase star Shaun Wallace took the time to answer questions. A business leader and a leading sportsperson didn’t even bother responding to a polite request to take part.
But Wallace, who loves New Zealand, probably stands testament to Fred Dagg’s line in his famous song, We Don’t Know How Lucky We Are.
He wishes us a “thriving economy, an increasingly influential player on the world stage and finally, still producing the best rugby players in the world”.
Phil Smith gets the last word: “... if we come together and think big, we will rock. The other option isn’t so pretty. The more we fight internally the more we lose internationally. We’re all brothers and sisters stuck in this beautiful, remote place. Let’s call it the ‘optimistic island’. Let’s go!”
* The 3400km distance travelled includes the 400km-plus journey to get to the start line, from Auckland to Cape Rēinga
The Great NZ Road Trip 2024 Awards
Best communities: Waihau Bay (East Coast) and Te Hāpua (Northland)
Best views: Take your pick – Mt Cook from Lake Tekapo; many spots between Blenheim and Kaikōura, Cape Rēinga, East Coast.
Editor-at-large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor.
