Re-Union in Wellington!

We arrive in Wellington to find Radhi at the arrivals gate as we walk off the plane.  More warm hugs and greetings are passed around the 3 friends, reunited after a very long time.  We are all delighted to see each other and the sound of our laughter echoes around the arrivals hall. 

It has been a very long time since we have all been on the same continent.  It might possibly even be more than 20 years ago, back when we were all still working in Sri Lanka.  We remember our friend Sureshnie, who still lives back in Sri Lanka and wish she were here as well.

Radhi drives us home to freshen up and meet her parents who also migrated to New Zealand and now live with her.   I knew her parents well, in the ‘good old days’ when I worked at IIMI and visited them in their home in Kandy for great meals and a ‘weekend home-stay’.

We have a wonderful reunion with her parents who are incredibly warm and welcoming.  Her mom has cooked us a great Sri Lankan meal of rice and curry and hints of more Sri Lankan delights she has in store.  We tuck in to a great feed before Radhi takes us on a drive to show off the city she has called home for more than twenty years. 

Sush has come here on a mission.  She wants to visit Wellington’s famous museum, TePapa.  Unfortunately, I am a little ‘museumed’ out and Radhi just wants to chat – not unusual for her.   We end up at the museum but the two of us just breeze through, more interested in chatting and catching up than in browsing.  Sush gives up in disgust and threatens to visit Radhi again so she can see TePapa in peace:)! 

After a hour of pretending to be interested in the exhibits of TePapa, we leave to find a cafe overlooking the waterfront and sip coffee shakes while we catch up on Radhi’s life and share news of our own personal journeys.  Radhi’s son is now in Uni but unfortunately out of town.  He is in Las Vegas, attending the finals of a Barbershop Competition!  His college won the national finals and he has gone overseas to represent his country.  We are sorry to miss Rueben but overjoyed to hear of his success.

We fit in bush walks, coastal walks, road trips, chats, visits to Radhi’s friends & movies in  between meal times.  Food is a big part of Sri Lankan culture and Radhi’s mom makes us many delicious meals that I would never have the patience to make from scratch in Australia.  We tuck into thosai, hoppers, string hoppers, pittu, chapati, and of course our staple of rice and curry!  I was hoping to lost some weight before I went back home but that diet might have to be shelved for a few more days.  I can’t possible turn down this feast!

Sush leaves a few days before I do and I take everyone out for a Thai meal in the city before we say goodbye to her.  Radhi takes us up to a wonderful lookout and we look down on the night lights of Wellington.  Sadly, the wind is blowing a gale, so we rush back to the warmth of our car.  Wellington is a beautiful city but a little too windy for me.

Re-connecting with old friends has been a wonderful way to end this time away from home. I am truly thankful to my two dear friends and their wonderful families, to the warm welcome and the wonderful hospitality extended to me.   Now it is time to re-connect with the friends and family I have left behind in Sydney.  I am excited to be flying back home and look forward to the wonderful reunions and hugs that await me in Sydney. 

Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years. 

~ Richard Bach