A Nice Long Weekend

This weekend New Zealand celebrates ANZAC day. In memory of the soldiers who fought for New Zealand and Australia in WWI one hundred years ago. It was marked with a large parade in the Auckland Domain and at many smaller ceremonies. But despite strong media coverage, I am still not sure how important the celebration really is. The Kiwis I have spoken to all say that they ought to be at the parade, but sleeping in is just a better way to spend an early Saturday morning. I feel the same way, so I didn't get up at 6am and I didn't get to witness this historic event.

Three day weekend
I do get to enjoy the national holiday though, as it gives me Monday off. It is nice with a long weekend, because I still feel stressed at work, where I have to learn much, but still meet my deadlines.

Body surfing
Saturday I went for a swim at Mairangi Bay. It was completely unlike the calm swim, where I met the kingfish, because easterly winds had given rise to some nice waves. Mairangi is not known to have good surf, but I met both surfers, kite surfers and a couple of life guards in surf skis on the water. I had a blast, duck diving under the waves going out and body surfing back to the shore until I was both exhausted and cold. Good thing I could get into a nice hot spa and sauna once I got back to the house.

Saturday night out
In the night Ross, Antonio and I went into the city to party. We had a great time with lots of dancing, Italian charm and a few things to regret and/or tell good stories about later.

Three happy guys and a curious girl

Sunday night in
Monday morning we pulled ourselves together and went to church with Sin Yat. The morning service is at half past nine, so we managed to get in a good amount of sleep. Still, it was a good thing the service was an engaging service, because otherwise we might have nodded off. In the evening Sin Yat served one of his famous curries, the savoury chicken one, and we all played a boardgame together.

Church of LIFE

I'm listening to the tunes of Hozier, Take me to church, as I write these lines. Inspired by my Sunday morning in the LIFE church. I'm not sure if they would like to be associated with that song, as the song could easily be interpreted as an attack on the anti-gay opinions of many religions. On the other hand it wouldn't surprise me if the LIFE church supports gay marriage and the tunes do sound like something they would play at Sunday service. I will tell you more about my unusual church visit, but let's start with something else.

Showers and soaks
I keep thinking the fall has finally come to Auckland, but every time it rains one day the next is beautifully sunny. It was raining this Monday, so I bought an umbrella to keep dry as I walk to and from work. My co-workers complained about the low temperature, but it is still warm enough that it could be summer in Denmark, so I am not fussed about it.

People are wearing thick jackets this Monday

But the next morning is as beautiful as they usually are

Because of the drop in temperature we have filled the spa and enjoyed some nice soaks. The "cold" air contrasts nicely with the hot water and the spa offers a perfect space for late evening talks with the couch surfers we regularly have staying here.

The spa has lots of wineglass holders ;)

Party in the lifeguard club
The season for the lifeguards ended four weeks ago with The Nationals, but this weekend we had the real end of season party. Many awards were given, including best costume, and we had a great night.

All prestigious awards, but not all serious
The Bucket for best vomiting story was quite entertaining

Whole roast pig and lamb for dinner

Sunday church
When Sin Yat asked Antonio and me to come to church with him, we had no idea what we agreed to. We knew that he is a Christian, so we expected a traditional church with a tower and bells. We could not been more wrong. LIFE church is located in an industry area in a building that looks like a warehouse. We were not greeted by the sound of church bells, but loud pop music and balloons.

I admire the way LIFE has made church modern and relevant

Inside we walked through the lobby/lounge area and into the auditorium. On the stage the lead singer and her guitarist were singing a song with Christian lyrics and modern tunes. The support from the audience to the band was more intense than at most concerts. There were hands in the air, clapping, rocking, and young guys and girls near the stage with stars in their eyes. The lyrics were displayed on a large screen behind the band and many sang along. It was exactly like this:

When the pastor arrived on stage the band slowly transitioned into a low background music to his preaching. After a short talk that had the audience captivated he let the band finish with another chorus of their modern version of amazing grace.

The service continued to be engaging to the extreme. Twice we were asked to talk to the people sitting/standing near us. We had our hands in the air several times, once to mark us as first time guests in the church. We were instantly rewarded with a CD containing music of the church's band, vouchers for free drinks in the lobby and a leaflet with information for potential members. At the end of the service Antonio won some ginger beer in a lottery. We were stunned. The LIFE church simply outdid any expectation we had ever had for a church. I will even go so far as to say the experience brought me closer to my faith (I'm pretty far from God, being an atheist and all, but I do identify with Christian values).

Easter Holidays

Last week I was feeling a bit stressed at work, so it was great to have some days off for the Easter Break. Now I feel refreshed after spending some time by myself and enjoying good times with my friends too.

Saturday swim
Saturday morning Sin Jat and I met in the garden and exchanged some small talk. He asked me if I was going swimming today and I thought that was a great idea. It had been more than a week since my last swim and the lack of exercise had begun to make me feel slow. So I packed my bag with Speedos, goggles and a towel and walked to the beach. It was yet another summer day with light wind, lots of sun and a temperature in the mid twenties. The water is still warm and there was good visibility, so I had a very enjoyable swim.

I was surprised to see several Kingfish during my swim
Photo credit Erik Schlögl

Twice my swim was interrupted by Kingfish, who scared me by casually swimming close by me. They are very large fish, but I realized later that the ones I had seen were small specimen well below the 75 cm legal minimum size.

Board Game Night
Sunday night we had a board game night in the house. It was awesome. To tell you just how awesome it was, I will tell you a short story about my background with board games. As a kid I liked board games, like most kids do, but it wasn't until later in my life that I became fascinated with them. I joined the BoardGameGeeks website a couple of years ago and discovered that there are lots of grown ups who still play board games. And not just with their kids, but with each other, usually at board game nights with 3 to 6 people.
The trick is to find like-minded people to play with, so you can enjoy the same games. Some people like social games, some like fast games and then there are the real geeks like myself who prefer long slow strategic games. In Denmark I used to play that kind of game with my friends, but I had never imagined that I would get to play in New Zealand. I feel extremely lucky that I am now living with a host who is an enthusiastic board gamer. To make it even better we have a common favourite in the game Agricola.

Sin Yat owns expansions for both Agricola and Race for the Galaxy

We played all night and had to order pizza, because there was no time to cook. Sin Yat crushed us all and I spent a couple of hours restlessly contemplating my mistakes before I could finally sleep. As I said, it was awesome.

Happy Birthday
Tuesday I turned 25 and I celebrated that by inviting my friends for dinner. I made goulash for them and a layer cake, which I think might be a traditional Danish dessert. At least it is a lot easier to make one in Denmark, because you can buy ready made cakes that separate the layers. I wanted to make it with strawberries, because strawberry red and whipped cream white are my national colours. Unfortunately strawberries were out of season so I used bananas and peaches instead. I bought some plain cakes and cut them until I had something that resembled a round cake in layers and used custard for one of the layers although I am not sure what custard is. The result was a dessert and desserts are always tasty, so it was fine even if the only originally intended ingredient was the cream.

I make Instagrammers all over the world jealous with my
splendid cake presentation

Happy Easter

I am enjoying a four day weekend for Easter and there is still no sign of the end of summer. In the spectacular weather Marie and I decided to go to an Easter fair. We found it in Cornwall Park, quite far south, in a part of Auckland I have never seen before.

The fair is a popular attraction on this sunny holiday

There were lots of people at the fair having fun at the rides, trying to win at the booths and having street food from the stalls. We made our way through the crowd to the main stage and saw the end of Alice in Wonderland while the bikers got ready for their performance.

Applause for Alice in Wonderland

Marie and I were both excited to see The Freestyle Motorcross show. Three of the best stunt riders of New Zealand had come to the fair and they were eager to show off their skills. They warmed up doing wheelies right in front of the crowd and went on to do some spectacular jumps on a ramp. The show was action packed with the three riders making jumps in rapid succession. The difficulty escalated towards the final stunts and culminated with a wild backflip. I found the show very entertaining and it was a great way to start our day at the fair.

I cheer with the crowd at the riders and their wild stunts

For lunch we had sushi from one of the stalls and then we were ready to see some more. We went into the farm show, which had a large touch the animals area, a place for judging of the best looking farm animals and a sheep shearing competition.

Piglets in harmony

I must admit I was laughing on the inside, while watching the sheep shearing competition. The sport is crazy, and yet it would be even more strange if it didn't exist. There are so many sheep in New Zealand that it would be odd if farmers didn't challenge each other to find out who is the better shearer. Yet looking at a bunch of old men use an electrical trimming machine with fervour on a bunch of dumbfounded sheep is just more comical than intense.

Sheep shearing: Obviously invented in New Zealand

One Tree Hill

The fair also features a zombie apocalypse area, an art gallery and a circus, but we felt like we had seen enough. Instead we escaped the crowd and climbed the volcano, One Tree Hill. It is located in the centre of Cornwall Park and is an important memorial site for the Maori. In the park we walked by lots of barbecues on the grass by Kiwis enjoying the holiday and the weather. 

View of One Tree Hill behind a cricket field

On the top we were grateful for the cooling breeze. We had a great view of the city and I liked to see the southern part of Auckland from here. 

Marie in front of Auckland and Rangitoto 

The sea is close to Auckland on both sides

At the end of this summer day in Easter we had an ice cream from the creamery of Cornwall Park before we found a bus home.