As I mentioned once before in this blog, Kiwis are prodigiously proud of their military history. Despite a 1915 population of just over a million, 18,000 Kiwis died in World War I, 2700 of them in the battle for Turkey, which began on April 25, 1915. That date is commemorated each year in both New Zealand and Australia as Anzac Day, a day to honor the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
I spent Anzac Day with Pauline, one of the owners of Two Bobs Flashpackers in Alexandra. We started out the day with a parade in neighboring Clyde, where her partner Lloyd marched as part of the volunteer fire brigade, followed by a beautiful hike to the Rob Roy Glacier. We ended the day with quiz night at the pub – which we won!* – and a lovely blue cod takeaway.
*We won despite the fact that they gave us no points for getting the definition of xenophobia correct – they said it was the fear of the number 13, while I knew it was the fear of foreigners.
Was that the WHOLE parade? Their enthusiasm is over the top!
Posted by: Lori | 05/29/2009 at 06:58 PM
Yep, that's it. But it's not really an occasion for enthusiasm.
Posted by: Jen Martin | 05/30/2009 at 12:42 AM