It is days like today that remind me how lucky I am to call New Zealand home. In the space of three hours I experienced all that is great about this country. Underneath the summer sun, in the shade of a Pohutakawa, my faith in humanity was strengthened.
I awoke to another glorious summer’s day in Auckland. The sun was streaming into my apartment and the water was beckoning. After a relaxing lunch I made my way to the spectacular Parnell Baths alongside the waterfront. The water was crisp and the perfect tonic to an ever-warming sun. I have always loved swimming. From a young age I took to water like the proverbial fish. Long summer days were spent either at the beach or at our local primary school’s pool. In my teenage years I made the transition to competitive swimmer and would spend countless hours each week immersed in water. It was a wonderful way to spend my youth. Now, I enjoy nothing more then a relaxing swim outside. The feeling of pure, unadulterated strength that flows through my body as I flow through the water is something I have never yet experienced on land.
Refreshed, I stopped in the neighbouring park which has recently had a section of rocky coastline converted into a sedate, sandy, inner-city beach. Even on such a glorious day this oasis was sparsely populated. It is truly one of Auckland’s (currently) best-kept secrets. Most of the people there seemed to have stumbled upon it by accident. It was here that I witnessed not one, but two moments of humanity at its finest.
In one corner was a well-travelled, well-spoken, and kind-hearted old man in his swimming outfit following a refreshing swim in the inlet. In the other corner were two young men of Polynesian descent, cooking up a storm on the BBQ. The former was entertaining two young Swedish backpackers, the latter feeding passer-bys with the tasty excess of their mid-summer’s feast.
After six weeks of life in Germany and London I had almost forgotten the sense of community that exists here in New Zealand. There was no obligation on anyone in that park today to share their lives with any of the other people enjoying that little corner of Auckland. It was out of the kindness of their own hearts that they did so. All were strangers. Yet all were family. The man and the Swedish backpackers were exchanging travel stories, and life stories. The chefs offered their food to all who passed by. I was lured over by the sweet aroma of steak and bacon and proceeded to indulge myself in good conversation and good food.
As I surveyed the scene unfolding before me, the smile on my face and the smile in my soul (or Kidney’s for those of you from the Eat. Pray. Love persuasion) grew larger and larger. Everywhere I looked, people were reaching out to each other. Time stopped, because all that mattered was that one moment in time where we experienced the true meaning of living in a community.
This is what life is about, and moments like this have the ability to change the world. If everyone approached their lives with the same generosity and in the same spirit as those people in that oasis did today then humanity’s problems would simply melt away. For all intents and purposes you had six people from immensely different backgrounds conversing, interacting, and sharing. This diversity was celebrated rather than feared. Diversity is not something to fear. It is something to rejoice in. Multiculturalism, contrary to the beliefs of Angela Merkel and David Cameron, has not failed. At least, it has not in that little Eden. Six people made the conscious decision to share a part of themselves with another. And humanity is all the richer because of it.
