Humming along
ADELITA AND HER HUSBAND, WAISAKE SOTUTU, HAVE THREE HUMMERS. SHE DRIVES THE SMALLEST — AND THEIR COMPANY, HUMMERZINE, HIRES OUT TWO H2 LIMOS.
Why Hummers?
They were more my husband’s idea and he had to convince me. They are something different. Some of Waisake’s rugby friends went for a ride in a Hummer limousine in Las Vegas and raved about it. Then we were in Japan and he was looking at buying a Hummer, but I wasn’t superconvinced. Waisake heard about a contact in the States and started looking at importing them. He’s like that, he gets an idea and goes off on a tangent. We have three Hummers — the first we got was a black, 8m-long stretch limo, then we have a standard, black Hummer and the 9.5m stretch yellow Hummer limo. I think at the time my husband loved the size of the Hummers because he’s not a little fella, either. And there were no Hummers here in New Zealand then. That was his dream car back then, but now it’s a Merc.
The yellow stretch limo is your latest?
Yes, it’s a 2005 automatic 6.2-litre 15-seater H2. (The H1 is the big army-sized one Arnold Schwarzenegger drove.) The colour is like a canary yellow but it’s called Hummer yellow. Nice and bright.
What’s inside?
They have tinted windows, a dry bar with a little bucket for ice and bottles. There are leather seats and four A5-sized TV screens. People can play music through the iPod with Bluetooth.
Do you drive them?
I drive the little Hummer. You feel high up there and not many women drive that size car. You feel a bit of power driving them, and they are nice to drive. I don’t have a licence for the limos. You need to have a P2, a passenger licence and class two to drive them. My husband drives the limos and we have drivers we can call on to drive for us.
Who hires a Hummer?
A huge variety of people, for weddings, school balls, an 8-yearold’s birthday, and tonight we have a 60-year-old’s birthday. We take people to music shows and concerts. It’s a good car to go out in safely and have some fun along the way. When we first started, we did have a couple of All Blacks.
What else do you have in your driveway?
I have a Nissan Elgrand and another Nissan. We have four kids so we have those family cars, too.
How often do you clean the Hummers?
After every job.
What do you listen to in the Hummer when it’s just you and your husband?
Probably singalong music, like 80s music, fairly easy listening.
What’s a good trip out of Auckland in a stretch limo?
Going out to one of the vineyards in West Auckland.
Being 8m and 9.5m long, how easy are the limos to park?
The drivers have class two licences, and they are used to driving long vehicles like buses, so they take wide corners and find places to park, and choose what routes to take.
Do people comment on them?
Some people come up and ask to sit in the driver’s seat or stand in front of them so they can have their photos taken.
How far away from Auckland do you take them?
We have been to Hamilton and Tauranga.
Do you judge people by what they drive?
I don’t but I know people judge my husband when he’s driving the Hummers. People have yelled abuse at him through their windows. Hummers aren’t popular with everyone.
And your take on Auckland’s traffic?
I think it is what it is. And it’s not going to get any better. I am glad I live out east. When you go into the city you have to be organised and leave in plenty of time. And if an accident has happened, that wrecks your best-laid plans.