What a complete change of weather!. The sun was shining down and the sky had no clouds at all first thing this morning as we headed off to
There were quite a few people there when we arrived and there were plenty of activities including a cooking demonstration by a chef from the upmarket Carrington Hotel who demonstrated making a chocolate desert. The bad news was that the sun was shining and it was warm, neigh! Hot, and the chocolate desert melted on the plate making it looked more like an oil slick than a chocolate desert.
They were cooking sausages and also hot lamb sandwiches which were very popular. The event opened with the Mangonui school children singing traditional native songs and also a ‘Haka’
The Red Hat ladies were there in their purple dresses and red hats along with the emergency services who also led the parade though the town and back again. There was a local marching band, floats from schools and old cars including our friend Robin’s Lancia.
The main ‘Haka’ was performed by the crew of the Waka,(a maori canoe) and they were very good but no doubt the hit of the day was the free ice cream donated by the local launderette. Needless to say there was a long queue of children who waited 10 minutes for their ice cream and then ate it quickly and rejoined the queue, we think at least three or four times.
Most of the event was finished by
Dillon came round from next door to go fishing with Noel but we think he overdid the sun a bit today and perhaps not enough water and so he declined.
Perhaps another day!.
The sun was good today and we also got a call from Brian in
To see all the Parade photographs go to
http://albums.phanfare.com/5194780/2944783_3342938#imageID=54001734
