"I had been working in Scotland, in Aberdeen, for a woman who had a hotel. I was the early morning cook and made the beds."
That was in 1960 when the young Meingawaiata had to return to New Zealand because her father was very ill.
At age 21, Meingawaiata had boarded a boat and went in search of all the places she wanted to see.
The first stop was Germany, then she travelled to Utrecht, Holland, where she lived for two years.
Meingawaiata then went to The Hague, where she worked in a biscuit factory, then followed a stint in a bureau where she researched train accidents in Europe.
Back home in Wellington, Meingawaiata's life was about to change when a friend with the Ngati Poneke roopu in Wellington asked her to come to an evening: "We have got this English boy and we can't get a word out of him."
Sorley McDonell was that "English boy", who had just arrived from Britain.
He was here because he was related to Governor-General Sir Bernard Fergusson's wife, Laura.
Sorley takes up the story:
"When I arrived in Wellington, a chap in a very dark uniform and black cap came to me and next moment I was in a chauffeured car."
Sorley was taken to Government House, where he found a schedule beside his bed and a note advising him to be invisible.
Lady Fergusson's lady-in-waiting, Virginia, was an artistic woman and gave the young man helpful advice. And with the £20 he had arrived in the country with still in his pocket, Sorley decamped from Government House and got a job in a wool store.
"I went off and found digs and stayed with some very nice people in Island Bay."
The couple enjoyed the Fergussons' hospitality and at one event they met a young man named Edmund Hilary, who had just become engaged to his first wife Louise. "I just loved those two," said Meingawaiata. "He was just the most delightful person."
Sorley remembers his first Christmas in New Zealand: "It was very exciting. I was taken to the Marsden Centenary celebrations."
The Vicar of Cornwall, a relative of Sorley's, also came for the celebrations. Kingi Ihaka, a friend of Sir Bernard, invited all the aides to his house for paua fritters. "Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best, and we went by boat to a huge tented Maori village."
The couple returned to live in the UK; Sorley stayed in the UK for 30 years and returned in 2001.
These days they work their little gift shop together and Sorley is in his second year of te Reo Maori at Te Wanganga o Aotearoa in Wanganui.
"I am so glad to have come back home just in time to see my brothers and cousins before they pass on," said Meingawaiata..
Waka Huia, 362 Wellington Rd, is open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, 10.30am-4.30pm.
