The Lost Mumbaikar in New Zealand
From a Black-and-White TV in Rajasthan to the Green Fields of Christchurch
TL;DR — For the Impatient Traveller
As a 12-year-old boy in Rajasthan, I woke up at 2 a.m. to watch the 1992 Cricket World Cup on a small black-and-white television. The commentators kept repeating names that sounded almost imaginary then — Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin.
Twenty-two years later, in 2014, I landed in Auckland on a business trip that would eventually take me to Christchurch.
What started as work quietly became something else — a journey chasing childhood cricket memories across one of the most beautiful countries on Earth.
In just four days, I explored parts of both islands of New Zealand.
Sometimes travel isn’t about planning.
Sometimes it’s about meeting a place you have known in your imagination for decades.
“Childhood Cricket Dreams”
Growing up in Rajasthan, life was simple.
Television itself felt like a luxury, and ours was a small black-and-white set that struggled to show clear pictures.
But every four years something magical happened.
The Cricket World Cup.
In 1992, the tournament was hosted by Australia and New Zealand, and because of the time difference the matches started in the middle of the night in India.
I was 12 years old.
Yet waking up at 2 a.m. never felt difficult when cricket was involved.
I remember watching an 18-year-old Sachin Tendulkar walking onto unbelievably green grounds.
Those pitches looked different from anything we had in India.
And the commentators kept repeating names that sounded distant and mysterious to a boy sitting in Rajasthan.
Auckland.
Christchurch.
Dunedin.
Back then those places felt like they were somewhere near the edge of the world.
I never imagined that one day I would actually stand there.
But life quietly connects memories across time.
“The Business Trip That Became a Journey”
In 2014, work took me across Asia.
I travelled through Hong Kong and Taiwan, meeting partners in Taipei, and spent two days in Hong Kong before heading to New Zealand.
On the Cathay Pacific flight, something unexpected happened at Dubai airport.
My ticket was quietly upgraded to business class.
No discussion. No request.
Suddenly the elevation of the journey doubled.
Sitting there with a glass of champagne, somewhere above the clouds, I had a strange moment of reflection.
A small James Bond feeling.
The boy who once watched the world on a black-and-white TV was now flying across continents for work.
And during this single trip I would touch four places:
Hong Kong
Taiwan
New Zealand
Australia
Each with its own identity and story.
But for a traveller they were simply new chapters waiting to happen.
And then came the flight that quietly connected childhood dreams with adult reality.
Hong Kong to Auckland.
Technically it was a business trip to Christchurch, but I deliberately routed the journey through Auckland.
Because sometimes business trips become something else.
They become personal pilgrimages.
“Arrival in Auckland”
My flight landed at Auckland Airport after crossing the Pacific.
Even from the plane window, New Zealand looked different.
Green hills.
Blue water.
Small islands scattered across the ocean.
Auckland is known as the City of Sails, and the name makes sense the moment you arrive.
Boats everywhere.
Harbours everywhere.
But what stood out even more than the landscape was the people.
“The Two-Bedroom Suite Story”
I checked into a hotel in Auckland city centre, close to the famous Sky Tower.
In those days I wasn’t the type of traveller who rented cars everywhere. I preferred staying in the city centre, walking around, taking trains or taxis, and discovering places slowly.
When I received the room key, something looked strange.
It was a two-bedroom suite.
I walked back to the reception.
“I think there’s a mistake,” I said.
“I’m travelling alone and staying only two nights.”
The receptionist laughed.
“New Zealanders are friendly,” she said.
“By tonight you’ll probably make enough friends to use both rooms.”
That was my first introduction to Kiwi humour.
Relaxed. Friendly. Slightly mischievous.
But there was another small habit behind this upgrade.
Whenever I enter a hotel, I always smile, greet the staff, and exchange a few friendly words.
Over the years I realised something interesting.
That small gesture often comes back with rewards.
Sometimes it means an upgrade.
Sometimes a better view.
Sometimes simply good advice about the city.
People in hospitality meet hundreds of guests every day.
Most travellers walk past them without even making eye contact.
But a little warmth changes the interaction.
And I still follow that habit everywhere I travel.
Because travel is not only about places.
It is also about people.
“First Day in Auckland”
After checking in, I stepped out to explore the city.
Staying near the Sky Tower made everything easy. I spent the day simply walking around the waterfront, roaming through the city centre, and visiting a few of the iconic spots like Viaduct Harbour, Queen Street, and the volcanic hills around the city.
A short trip to Mount Eden offered one of the best views of Auckland.
Standing there I learned something fascinating.
The city is built on more than fifty volcanic cones.
Ancient geology quietly supporting a modern city.
Dinner that evening was simple but memorable – New Zealand lamb and green-lipped mussels near the harbour.
Someone later told me a statistic that explains the quality of the lamb.
New Zealand has about five million people and nearly twenty-five million sheep.
Here, lamb isn’t just food.
It is practically national identity.
“When a Childhood Memory Returned”
While walking around Auckland that day, something felt strangely familiar.
It wasn’t a specific place.
It was the colour of the landscape.
The deep green grass, the cool wind from the harbour, and the quiet calm of the city suddenly reminded me of those cricket broadcasts from my childhood.
For a moment I was no longer a traveller.
I was that 12-year-old boy in Rajasthan, waking up at 2 a.m., watching matches from places the commentators kept repeating like distant geography lessons.
“Auckland. Christchurch. Dunedin.”
Back then those names sounded like another planet.
And now, more than twenty years later, I was simply walking through one of them.
“Understanding New Zealand”
Later that evening I started chatting with a couple of locals near Viaduct Harbour.
Talking with locals is always my favourite part of travelling.
They told me the story of how these islands were first settled by Polynesian navigators, the ancestors of the Māori people, around the 13th century.
Centuries later European explorers arrived, including James Cook, who mapped the islands in 1769.
Hearing that instantly took me back to Class 7, when our teacher Sunitha Madam explained the great explorers of the world.
Back then those names were just lines in a textbook.
Sitting there in Auckland years later, hearing locals describe the same history, it felt strangely nostalgic.
Like a classroom lesson quietly stepping into real life.
“The Waiheke Island Escape”
The next morning I took a ferry to Waiheke Island.
Just 40 minutes from Auckland, yet it feels like another world.
The boat moves across the Hauraki Gulf, passing small islands scattered across the ocean.
Waiheke is famous for vineyards, beaches, olive groves, and relaxed island life.
I spent the day walking along Oneroa Beach, visiting vineyards like Mudbrick and Cable Bay, and simply enjoying the slower rhythm of the island.
Sometimes the best travel experiences are the quiet ones.
“Christchurch — The South Island”
The next morning I flew to Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island.
The city immediately felt different from Auckland.
Calmer. Slower. Almost European in character.
Christchurch was heavily damaged during the 2011 earthquake, but the city has rebuilt itself with resilience and creativity.
After finishing my meetings, my friend Justin took me for lunch and suggested a few places to explore.
Day 1 — Exploring the City
I spent the afternoon walking through some of Christchurch’s well-known spots — Cathedral Square, Avon River, Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Canterbury Museum, New Regent Street, and the viewpoints around Port Hills.
That evening I visited The Bog Irish Bar, a place many locals know because New Zealand cricketer Jesse Ryder once had a famous late-night brawl outside it. Like many sports cities, Christchurch carries its own small cricket stories.
Day 2 — Leaving for the Next Dream
The next morning I spent a little more time walking around the quiet streets of Christchurch before heading to the airport.
My next flight was to Sydney.
And this time the journey was different.
In New Zealand I had come mainly for work.
But in Sydney, another childhood cricket dream was waiting — and this time there was no work at all.
Only travel.
Because sometimes the best journeys begin with business.
But end with dreams.
“When Dreams Quietly Become Real”
For most travellers, Auckland and Christchurch are simply destinations on a map.
Beautiful places.
But for me they were something else.
They were the green cricket fields I saw as a 12-year-old boy waking up at 2 a.m. in Rajasthan.
Standing there in 2014, thousands of kilometres away from that black-and-white television, I realised something simple.
Sometimes dreams don’t shout.
They whisper quietly for years.
And one day, without warning, you find yourself living inside them.
“The Lost Mumbaikar says”
For a boy who woke up at 2 a.m. to watch cricket, New Zealand was once just a commentator’s voice.
Years later, it became a journey.
This trip was just the beginning of my New Zealand experience. In this blog I shared the personal journey behind reaching these places, but in the coming posts I will go deeper.
I will write two separate blogs about Auckland and Christchurch, sharing what you should do if you have 7–8 days in New Zealand-the must-see places, must-try food, experiences you shouldn’t miss, and a few things you can safely skip.
Because New Zealand is not just a destination.
It is a country that rewards curiosity, slow travel, and a little bit of adventure.
“Your Turn”
- Have you ever travelled to a place you first discovered through sports, movies, or books?
- If you had 7–8 days in New Zealand, what would be the first thing on your list?
- Do you prefer fast itineraries, or slow travel where you simply explore and let the country surprise you?
Let me know in the comments your answers.
Leave a Reply