ANZAC Day in Paekakariki

The longer we're here the more we feel at home in this beautiful little village. When we go out, we actually run into people we know enough to stop and chat with and people actually invite the kids over for play dates. It's pretty cool. On Friday, we got to have a fully small town experience when Becky and Abby participated in the Paekakariki ANZAC Day Parade. ANZAC stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps, and the day is to commemorate all of the soldiers . I've lifted the following description from a NZ web site for those of you history buffs out there.

"Anzac Day occurs on 25 April. It commemorates all New Zealanders killed in war and also honours returned servicemen and women. The date itself marks the anniversary of the landing of New Zealand and Australian soldiers – the Anzacs – on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915. The aim was to capture the Dardanelles, the gateway to the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. At the end of the campaign, Gallipoli was still held by its Turkish defenders. Thousands lost their lives in the Gallipoli campaign: 87,000 Turks, 44,000 men from France and the British Empire, including 8500 Australians. To this day, Australia also marks the events of 25 April. Among the dead were 2721 New Zealanders, almost one in four of those who served on Gallipoli. It may have led to a military defeat, but for many New Zealanders then and since, the Gallipoli landings meant the beginning of something else – a feeling that New Zealand had a role as a distinct nation, even as it fought on the other side of the world in the name of the British Empire. Anzac Day was first marked in 1916. The day has gone through many changes since then. The ceremonies that are held at war memorials up and down New Zealand, or in places overseas where New Zealanders gather, remain rich in tradition and ritual befitting a military funeral."

The celebration here in Paekakariki began with a parade from the end our our street, Ocean Road, to Memorial Hall....all of 2 short blocks! The entire march took about 2 minutes, followed by short talks from a very cool Anglican Minister (who quoted Hindu scripture among other things), a few other local dignitaries. While the day is officially about celebrating fallen soldiers, peace is put forth almost constantly in ANZAC Day speeches, and this one was no exception. The day ended with the Showing of a documentary about Gallipoli narrated by Sam Neill and Jeremy Irons. That was to take place in St. Peter's Hall and was FREE. We didn't have a chance to go because we were fortunate enough to enjoy a Passover dinner with the Bergers and several of their other friends. As Lois (Jim's mom) would say, "it was deelish!"

In addition to it being an absolutely gorgeous morning to be out next to the sea, we enjoyed being part of the local flair and especially watching Abby and Becky participate as Girl Guide and Brownie. Abby even got to lay the ceremonial wreath (I wonder, did people ask themselves what the heck the American girl was doing laying the wreath?). It was another indication of how welcomed we've felt here from the very start. So welcome, in fact, that the local monthly paper, Paekakariki Xpressed, has included pictures of Abby or Becky or both in each of their last two issues! If you're interested, check out the link to the April Issue at http://www.gopaekakariki.co.nz/xpressed/aprilx.pdf and go to page 44. You can also find some pictures, two, in fact, in the March issue, but Jim couldn't connect to the link for that issue.

As we move into our second week of the two week school holiday, we are excited about our upcoming trip (our second) to the South Island, this time with our dear friends, the Bergers. We will do much less driving this time, taking the ferry across Cook Strait and exploring the northern tip of the island....Abel Tasman National Park and Golden Bay. Stay tuned....