Sananda Chatterjee

Boxing Day, 2009: A day out

T his past Boxing Day, we ended up making a trip to Lake Whakamarino1

(pronounced ‘Fa-ka-marino’), adjacent to the small town of Tuai, in Hawke’s
Bay, North Island of New Zealand.
Honestly speaking, I was looking forward to getting away from (the lack of)
stuff (!), as well as stuffy Auckland. We had been pre-warned about cell phone
reception, and so I was expecting serenity, peace and quiet, like Turangi2 perhaps, like
the blink-and-miss town centre, or like one of those tiny towns that we drive
through/pass by on SH13.
THIS, my dears, was NOTHING
like it. Almost 90km gravel road
through the Te Urewera4 National Park
(picturesque but tedious) and one
airless left front car tyre later, we
reached there at 4pm Christmas Day.
Prime Maori5 land, I was told. They live
with nature, in tune with it. Of course,
mainly Maori and some mixed
population, not many Pakehas6, and no
Indians!! Gasp! What?!!! NO YOU
HEARD IT HERE FIRST... NOT ONE
LOCAL DAIRY (Mr. Patel obviously
missed a spot; hope he's listening!!).
The closest ‘town’, Wairoa7 of Hawke’s
Bay, is some 55km away. Really! That
was my very first quiet life experience.
It was awesome.
Back to Boxing Day. Sayanti
(after a fair bit of convincing) and I
took mum’s precious picnic mats out
(which I’m now being told that I folded
wrongly and have therefore ruined

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them – love you mum), and just rested
on the shores of Lake Whakamarino.
Cool breeze from the tiny lake
(glorified pond really, add some
drainage) was making me rather
sleepy on them damn mats. Lake
Whakamarino, by the way, is man-
made, and so has a wall running along
the side of the lodge with perfectly
angled sides. Te Urewera surrounds it
on all sides; it is DIVINE. The water, so
cold, but delightfully calm, is borrowed
from Big Brother Lake Waikaremoana,
which is also stellar. It is truly an
enjoyable quiet, the silence being
broken only when the locals jump into
the freezing waters (twice in quick
succession as I was advised later) to
acclimatize their bodies to the
temperature, on a perfect, hot
summer day.
See, I was looking forward to
Napier8, which had been planned
originally (gah!). So, on the way to
Whakamarino, “I could deal with this”
was what was constantly passing
through my head at that time. I have
to admit: in small doses, dead villages
in the middle of nowhere with
GRANDE natural beauty is Bliss. And
pleasing to your mind, body and soul.
‘Serene’ is the right word. And the NO
cell phone reception promise held –
well, mostly, because although
Vodafone (and, therefore, also 2 Degrees) had coverage, Telecom didn’t, and so I
couldn’t really text anyone else. It was whole three nights of cooking, lounging about
the lake, walking along the shores feeling the cool, MOST AWESOME breeze on your
face, mingling with the locals, and dipping your feet in the lake where there’s some
evidence of a stone stairway into the lake (like a ghat9) because none of us scared
Bangali-r bachchas10 wanted to brave the freezing water!

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 It was good, and to such priceless gems of astounding beauty, I dedicate my
badly written sher11, “To You, NZ”:
(Rough Editorial Translation)
Bade bade shayar Famous poets
Hue honge ghayal Must have been mesmerized
By such vernal beauty
Yeh baharein dekhke
Hum toh kya cheez hain Who am I…
Ghalib bhi jhukte sajde mein Even the poet, Ghalib, would lie prostrate
Seeing such vernal beauty
Yeh baharein dekhke
Khuda zameen pe gar aaye kabhi If the Almighty ever descends on earth
Toh woh bhi bas jaayega yaheen kaheen He will take up residence here somewhere
Even the Angels chose this abode
Farishton ne bhi toh yeh ghar chuna
Witnessing such beauty…
Yeh nazarein dekh ke...

Over and Out.

Glossary of terms and names:

1. Tuai is a town in Hawke’s Bay, adjacent to which is Lake Whakamarino, well-known for its diverse populations of
fish including large trout.
2. The town of Turangi, NZ, is situated on the banks of the Tongariro River, at the southern end of Lake Taupo. Turangi
and its surrounding countryside offer hunting, fishing, mountain biking, hiking or bush walks, white water rafting,
kayaking, sightseeing and much more.
3. SH1 (State Highway 1) is the longest and most significant road in New Zealand road network, running the length of
both main islands, and referred to officially as SH 1N in the North Island and SH 1S in the South Island. It runs
through the vicinity of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
4. Te Urewera, the remote, rugged and immense National Park, is located between the Bay of Plenty and Hawke's Bay
in the North Island of New Zealand. It is home to Lake Waikaremoana and the smaller Lake Waikareiti.
5. The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand.
6. Pākehā is a Māori term for New Zealanders who are not of Māori blood lines, having predominantly descended
from European ancestry.
7. Wairoa, a town in New Zealand's North Island, is the northernmost town in the Hawke's Bay region, located on the
northern shore of Hawke’s Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River.
8. Napier is the main city of the Hawke’s Bay region.
9. ghat – Embankment of a river.
10. Bangali-r Bachcha – children of Bengalis, or of Bengal.
11. Sher – short verses.

YZ

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