It was a beautiful sunny day with a light breeze in Hamilton this morning when Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern walked about 200 metres on Victoria Street.
She left the Embassy Park complex at the South-end of Victoria Street after making the $12 million funds announcement for the theatre, to visit the tech company The Instillery who have offices in the Sky City complex.
She was about to board her car when she was learnt the next venue was just a couple of hundred metres down the street, and she looked delighted to walk.
Passers by were taken by surprise to see the prime minister and the Hamilton-based Labour MP Jamie Strange strolling down the street, gazing at the changing landscape since the time she last studied here.
Some of the passing motorists honked, waived their hand, and a couple of cafe staff came out, looking in bewilderment and awe. It’s not everyday that you see a Prime Minister walk past your front door unannounced.
PM was repeatedly stopped for a selfie and she readily obliged, even holding the phones for them and clicking. There were retakes also when the photo results were not up to the scratch.
Graceful Ardern was patient, making small talk, inquiring how they were from those who stopped to say ‘hello’, and spent several minutes talking to a woman with a baby in her lap who had to wait for her turn for a selfie.
There were several lighter moments at the award-winning growing tech company, The Instillery where she went around their workplace, met and addressed staff who were excited to have the PM amidst them.
The Prime Minister and Jamie Strange also separately met the company’s Founder and CEO Mike Jenkins and GM-Waikato Richard Jenkins to know and understand more about the cloud-based services they provide.
– from NewsViews
