The peculiar pain and pleasure of finding a car parkatteawa

“Anger is an energy,” they say.

If that’s true, then the power of a small thermonuclear reactor could be harnessed from the emotions of the people driving around and around the car park at the Hamilton shopping centre known as The Base.

Why are these motorists looking so vexed? They are all trying to find a park on what is surely one of the busiest days of the year, in a car park where the number of spaces available are vastly outnumbered by the cars attempting to park in them.

It certainly appears that most of the cars in Hamilton have suddenly made their way into the car park bordered by the main Te Awa shopping mall on one side and The Warehouse on the other.

Everybody is circling around in the manner of irate inchworms. Progress is slow, and frequently at a standstill as the motorists at the head of the convoy stop and wait for a parking spot occupier to reverse out.

Oh wait. They were just putting some bags into their car, and now they are wandering off, back to the shops again.

The search for a spot continues.

To be fair on Te Awa’s management, they have seen this situation coming from afar and have taken some fairly smart precautions to keep the chaos to a minimum.

The road cones are out and the traffic marshals are keeping a close eye on things. Numerous access-ways into both the main car park and the basement-level car park under the shopping centre have been blocked off.

This clever corralling allows the main flow of traffic to snake around, and through, and out the other end.

At least that’s the theory. Human nature - or more concisely, the overwhelming desire not to waste even a second unnecessarily in a traffic jam - is playing its part.

People are trying to sneak through the choke points but are getting snarled-up. Gridlocked, even.

The faces behind the steering wheels tell the story of how all these folk are faring: Teeth are gritted. Knuckles are clenched. Facial muscles are doing that involuntary twitch thing.

Nobody is tooting their horns. But it’s only 10.30am. There’s plenty of time for such uncivilised behaviour later in the day.

Parking spaces are at a proverbial premium - which is ironic because, like the Chartwell Shopping Centre on the other side of the river, Te Awa don’t charge for parking like they do in the central city.

There is a price to pay, however. Parking at The Base is extremely taxing on one’s patience. Some are better at taking this taxation than others.

“It’s rat-shit,” laughs Bernie Waru as she makes her way though the sea of cars to the shops.

“The parking is shit. If I did not have a disability card that allows me to park in one of those spaces, I would not come here on a day like this.”

The Base was, however, a great place to shop, she reckoned.

“I wanted to come and check out the sales with the mokos. The parking situation as a whole is ridiculous, but it is great that they have so many spaces that are for mums with babies.”

Julie Thorburn also has a blunt assessment of the parking.

“It’s f...ing shit, isn’t it?”

She had arrived early, before the crowds. “Just look around. It’s getting busier and busier.

“I feel bad for all the people crawling around still looking for parks, because I keep coming back to my car with my shopping and they are stopping and waiting for me to drive out - but I’m not.”

Some shoppers, possibly predicting they were about to drive into a maelstrom of patience-testing traffic, were wisely parking in the distant spaces near the Mitre 10 Mega store, or in the car park where the Hamilton Night Markets were - until recently - held, and walking the extra distance.

But most were not

The parking frustrations were far from universal. For some, the experience was almost pleasurable.

“Actually, it was quite easy to find a park,” said Nicole Mitchell, who has just arrived accompanied by her nephew John Pill.

“It was not quite where we wanted to park” he said. “But a park is a park,” she concluded.

It was a similar situation for Katrina Parker-cooper. “It was super easy. I got here at 8.40am and the car park was mostly empty. I knew what I was here for, so I just went out and got it.”

At the other end of the spectrum was Dawn Nathan.

“On a busy day like today, it’s just ludicrous. It took me 10 minutes just getting in here.” It had been a difficult time driving around, “thinking someone was leaving and then it turns out they are not”.

The difficult experience was no deal-breaker, however.

“I’m retired, so I have all the time in the world. And this is a cool place to shop. Sometimes it’s worth it.”