Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from the antipodes!

We had a nice, long, four-day weekend here for Easter. Both Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays! We didn't organize plans to go anywhere, so we had the whole time to relax in our lovely neighborhood. We did a bit of geocaching, hunting for Easter eggs, searched for the Easter baskets that the Easter Bunny hid for us, and satisfied my Easter craving for a good old fashioned ham.

True to the weather forecast, it was rainy and a bit windy this weekend. However, it came in waves so we still managed to find time to picnic and walk through the city searching for giant Easter eggs in the Whittakers Egg Hunt. We saw a bunch of them on exhibit at the library, and hunted out a few more scattered around town.

While walking along the waterfront on Good Friday, we came across a bar playing the Blackhawks game live, so we stopped in to have a drink and watch the rest of the game. Surprisingly, they informed us that we had to order an entire lunch if we wanted to drink on Good Friday due to New Zealand law! I still can't decide if I like this law or not. We just ordered cokes and still enjoyed the game (well, until the last few minutes of regulation anyway). I've come to like that all the shops are closed for the holidays- it's good that everyone gets a break and with all the shops closed you have no choice but to spend time with family playing games or picnicking. This law though seems a bit... silly? It's one thing to ban alcohol entirely, but to allow it only with food purchased just increases the cost and doesn't deter people too much.

I almost forgot, but Saturday night we went to Waikaraka Park (for the 2nd time) for the speedway and demolition derby. The rain threatened us a few times, but the worst held out. We enjoyed watching it rain mud on the spectators in the field who had chosen to sit too close to the track. Most were prepared with clear tarps for protection.

 Sunday morning we had a windy but lovely sunrise service on the beach, followed by traditional hot cross buns from the local baker and a bit later by my first ever home cooked Easter dinner. I didn't cook much, but it was good anyway.

I hope you all had a Happy Easter! Missing you much in this holiday season. I often remember rain on Easter, so it felt like home. Fall here isn't too different from spring in the midwest- it's cool, there's lots of rain and things are turning green again! It's very confusing to keep track of the seasons.