what it means to be a kiwi....

Julia from Henderson

Hey neighbours – to ALL of you – who passed by the Kelston Community Centre, Great North Road today - Waitangi Day - between 3:30pm and about 5pm

– PAST the woman with the car broken down in the medium strip – on Waitangi Day

– ALL of you – two lanes - between let’s see – texted my friend from Kelston countdown at 3:52pm – paid for petrol (low petrol light came on after just dropping her off home, just down the road) at 4:59pm – so a HOUR

– more than - HOUR AND A HALF – she told me she had been there for half an hour – told me I was the first one to stop to help

– a LOT of traffic going by - two lanes each side…


- wasn’t me – wasn’t my car – was a fellow kiwi in need


(was complete stranger, now new friend) - lovely woman - Marama



– she said I was the first to stop in half an hour…

what is wrong with the rest of you?? – esp the ones who just beeped!

We got her battery started

(kiwi chicks – we know how to do this ( – and change a tire)

- she had a battery charger – I had jumper leads

– got it started time and time again – revevved it – would just die – in the middle of acceleration - fine - dead - would start - wouldn't start -

- we gave up in the end – (plan B – asking a kiwi bloke for help – failed)

– so plan c – pushed it off the middle of the road through two lanes of traffic

*thank you* to Angela who DID stop at this point and helped us get it through two lanes of traffic – from the middle of the road (on the medium strip)

Yellow lines - on both sides - every direction –

luckily I had lived just there, a few houses up - a few years back –

was actually on the way to visit former neighbour – left it on her property, off the road (since yellow lines) knocked and knocked to ask permission – she wasn’t home (left notes & texted her)

as for the rest of you… esp the ones who just *beeped*...

- I could clearly see her and her car from a distance - we BOTH had our hazard lights on – in medium strip – two lanes - what the….

luckily was going to visit this former neighbour, lovely woman in her 90s – she wasn’t home, left the car outside her place, sent her a text, left a note in her letterbox & left a message under the windscreen for her –

and dropped Marama off home

Had started to write a facebook post this morning before visiting a friend – what it means to be a kiwi – since this is Waitangi Day – to me it means community – helping each other out…

– had written – “we’ve come a long way as a country – still have a long way to go in many ways, we should however give credit where credit is due”

– credit to Marama for her positive attitude in the face of such a challenging situation, kiwi chicks eh! outstanding!

and credit to Angela – older kiwi - pakeha woman - what an angel coming to help – thank you!


As for the rest of you… very disappointed!