anzac day

Anzac day is on the 25th April and celebrated in New Zealand and Ausie. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC day is very important here and i was lucky enough to get invited to a dawn service in Rawhiti. Rawhiti lost the most men per capita in NZ and was hosting a dawn service at a Maori marae. a marae (more-eye) is the meeting house in a maori village. here is a photo before the dawn service...i woke up very early and had morning tea with rhona and michelle. i was still feeling a bit ick from the night before and the first thing offered to us at the RSA (veterans association) was a glass of rum and milk. the anzac soldiers drank this in the AM to stay warm. heh had one sip and then felt like i was going to die the entire bus ride on the typical unsealed curvey NZ roads!!!so yeah this is a pic of rawhiti (ra-fi-tee)


The service is preformed first in the Maori language by a priest then one of the ANZAC soldiers thanked the village for inviting us over as well as gave a bit of a speech about ANZAC day. it was a gorgeous service. after we all get in line and are welcomed by the town people in rawhiti. kia ora (hello) is exchanged between everyone along with kisses on cheeks or nose presses (a greeting in the maori culture)

after greeting each other there was a hangi. usually veggies and meat roasted in the ground, but this one was more breakfast orientated. i had an asparagus, cream cheese roll up and fell in love! i think i ate all of them myself...

This lil dude is situated on the top of the Marae. It's on the top and called "tekoteko", or carved figure. Its at the very top of the roof and is the entrance to the marae. it represents the ancestors head. from there two poles extend downward and represent arms welcoming people in.

After the service i thought i was going to zonk out! st pic is of..... but baden (owner of the apt i was renting) talked me into watching the anzac parade in russell...after the parade i slept for an hour then met up with rhona to go eat eat eat at the RSA. they had a bufett and cheap cheap drinks! there was music and some vets playing guitars and singing. definitely not a thing i could get to see while on the kiwi experience ;)