Anzac Day

Last year Katarina, Zach and I were at Transformers camp. This year, Janine, Zach, Hannah and I went to the dawn service at the Timaru memorial, by the hospital, before Chris and I took our regular services. In fact, our services were fuller at Trinity. The St Stephens service was depleted by the RSA service. I shared some stories from grandad's first world war diary, which one of my cousin's has had transcribed. It was eerily prescient to hear him writing about April 25 being a red letter day in Australia a month after, as he landed at Gallipoli and started to hear the stories of what had happened. He slept that first night with his boots on, rifle and 200 rounds at his side, with men who had not taken their boots off for three weeks.

It is raining today for the first time in ages. Soccer was canceled on Saturday. Chris and I have been out for lunch today and we are planning a birthday party for my dad who is 70 on the 29th April. Hopefully all the family will gather, well, at least the ones who are in New Zealand!