Auckland Harbour Suites to National Park Village private car — Aman's conference trip

The rain was just starting to spit as I pulled up outside the Auckland Harbour Suites. Christmas Eve. A notoriously quiet day for bookings, usually, a lot of people trying to get home to family or already checked out for the holiday. But there he was, waiting under the awning, a small suitcase. He looked a bit younger than I’d expected, maybe late twenties, and had that sort of easygoing smile you often see on people from the islands. His name, he’d said on the phone, was Aman, and he was from Fiji.

He was heading down to National Park Village for a tech conference. Conferences down there are a bit niche, I thought, especially just before Christmas. Usually, they’re in the bigger centres. He climbed in, thanked me for being on time, and settled back. The city was already looking slick with the drizzle, the harbour grey and choppy. We joined the usual flow heading south, past the buses and the late shoppers trying to beat the rush. Aman had a quiet sort, mostly looking out the window at the passing traffic. He was dressed smart-casual, a crisp shirt and dark trousers. I figured he was probably a coder or something in the IT world.

We were making good time through the southern motorways, past the Bombay Hills, and into the Waikato stretch when the conversation eventually opened up a little. He told me he’d been in Auckland for a few days, visiting some mainland offices of his company before heading down to the conference. He was part of a startup back in Suva, working on some innovative app. It sounded pretty ambitious. He’d flown in a week ago and had spent most of his time in meetings and familiarising himself with the New Zealand branch of their operations. He mentioned he’d never actually been to National Park Village before, only seen pictures online. It was a bit unusual for him to be travelling for work at this time of year, but this was apparently a crucial strategic planning event for his team.

As we rolled past Hamilton and started heading towards the rolling hills of the King Country, the rain picked up. It wasn’t torrential, but it was persistent, blurring the green paddocks to shades of grey and olive. We stopped briefly at a service centre near Cambridge for a coffee and a stretch. He bought a small packet of biscuits and told me a bit about how his company was growing. They specialised in logistics software for small businesses, trying to bring them up to speed with digital solutions. It sounded like hard graft, especially in a developing economy.

He explained that the conference was about leveraging new AI technologies for supply chain management, something about predictive analytics and route optimisation, and that while his company was based in Fiji, a lot of their clients were spread out across the Pacific Islands. This particular conference attracted people from all over, and he was keen to bring back new ideas. He’d been working remotely for the past two years, so this was his first big in-person meet-up, a chance to really network and build relationships, which he found much easier face-to-face than over Zoom. He said he’d always found New Zealanders to be quite reserved, but the contacts he'd made already were very helpful.

We continued on, the landscape becoming more dramatic as we approached the central plateau. The road began to climb, winding through native bush and vast forestry blocks. The rain had eased off, and patches of blue were starting to appear overhead. You could see the towering peaks in the distance, with some residual snow in the high crevices, even though it was Christmas Eve. Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, Ruapehu. They looked majestic, silent sentinels against the clearing sky. Aman pointed them out, a real sense of wonder in his voice. He said he’d always wanted to see the mountains, and that he was looking forward to getting a closer look once he was settled.

He mentioned that while Fiji was beautiful, it didn’t really have this kind of dramatic, mountainous terrain. He’d seen pictures of the Tongariro Crossing and thought it looked incredible, though he admitted he probably wouldn't have time for a long hike during this trip. He was just glad to be somewhere cooler, he said, as Fiji was quite humid this time of year, and he was hoping for clear skies for the conference's outdoor networking event on Boxing Day. He also talked a little about his family back in Suva, the excitement building for Christmas there, the extended family getting together.

As we finally descended into National Park Village, the light was starting to fade. The little settlement looked cosy nestled at the foot of the mountains, smoke curling from chimneys. I pulled up outside the lodge he'd booked into. It was quiet, a few other cars already parked around. He thanked me warmly, his earlier quietness replaced by a certain eagerness. He seemed to be looking forward to the conference, and the chance to experience this unique part of New Zealand before heading back home to Fiji. I wished him a Merry Christmas and a successful event, and watched him disappear inside, ready to trade the open road for a week of intensive tech talk amid the volcanoes.