Sir John Key really is Obama's bro and other highlights of Barack Obama's first trip to NZ

Friday, 23 March 2018

It's a bromance, not a showmance, after all.

OPINION: Many New Zealanders may have thought Barack Obama was never really serious about visiting New Zealand.

Despite our country's increased standing on the global stage in recent years celebrities of Obama's stature rarely visit unless a Peter Jackson movie is involved.

Barack Obama and John Key play golf at Tara Iti, Mangawhai, Northland

Then again Obama's visit seemed like it was not really a celebrity's visit at all but more like a trip he took on the sly and hoped Michelle would never find out about.

But those lucky enough to attend his dinner or enjoy the ex-President's company came to realise this secrecy wasn't a sign of snobbery but humility.

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Crowds waiting for a glimpse of the former President before dinner missed out on seeing him, but those who remained were greeted with a wave as he got back into his vehicle.

*** Barack Obama and John Key's bromance endures

* Powhiri, meeting the PM, dinner and more golf for Barack Obama's second day

* Parenting advice from Barack Obama to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern**

Obama turned up without any fanfare because he really didn't want the attention.

Whether he wanted it or not he was certainly noticed, here are some of our highlights of his trip to New Zealand.

1. Sir John Key and Obama really are bros

Yes there were those pictures in Hawaii and all the stories Key used to tell us about that guy in America he knows who lives just down the road from him in Hawaii.

But there was something about the way Key talked about it that always sounded a bit like that next-door neighbour who 'knows' Ed Sheeran.

All such lingering doubts were eliminated when Obama put his arm around the former Prime Minister twice on the golf course: once when Key ended up in the bunker and then later for an Air New Zealand tweet.

You just can't fake that kind of brotherly love.

Not content with all of that Obama explicitly made mention of their special friendship in front of 900 New Zealanders putting all talk of a 'showmance' to bed once and for all.

2. Wahine Toa

When US Ambassador Nancy Gilbert set this group up in 2016 many roped into it likely never imagined they would ever meet the then-President of the United States.

Two years later they were sharing brunch with him in a five-star hotel at the Auckland Viaduct.

By all accounts Obama not only shared insights with 20 Maori female leaders but listened to their ideas about what the Obama Foundation could become.

How many of New Zealand's own former Prime Ministers would take the time to do the same?

3. Even Judith Collins was left a little starstruck

Most of us never knew Judith 'Crusher' Collins could be starstruck by anything.

Such is the magic of Obama that even she appeared a little speechless after hearing him speak.

'I thought: loads of humility, loads of empathy and a genuinely really nice guy.

'I felt utterly starstruck and privileged to have been there.'

4. Sorry Mr Obama, I have more important things to do

Complaints have been raised for many years in Auckland that the Mayor or Deputy Mayor are not required to attend citizenship ceremonies.

In Tauranga citizenship ceremonies are so important the Mayor will turn down a dinner with Obama to be there.

You can question whether there were exceptional circumstances in this case to look at sending someone else along to a citizenship ceremony but there's also something refreshingly Kiwi and egalitarian about the fact that Mayor Greg Brownless decided he had something more important to do that day than enjoy a dinner with Obama.

5. The extreme lengths taken to hide Obama

Obama visited a golf course so far from any public road that the only pictures possible gained a grainy tinge that reminded everyone of the early days of PXT messaging.

When he pulled in to his widely publicised dinner at the Viaduct Events Centre large black screens were erected to shield Obama from view.

Even at Government House, a public event, perplexed school students were left running between multiple gates pointing at every person in a grey suit and asking 'is that him?'

Obama's visit was so under the radar that US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones suspected it was all a cover for the Obama Foundation to create some kind of post-apocalyptic hideout.

Some in the waiting crowds even jeered at the lengths organisers went to shield Obama from view but you have to admire their dedication to the cause.