Anzac Day

Anzac day is very big here- by very big, we mean - shops close for basically three days in 365 - Christmas Day, Good Friday and Anzac Day - so that gives you an idea. Admittedly, the country will only come to a standstill for the morning since businesses are allowed to reopen after noon, but even still, it's a day where everyone is expected to take a moment away from the usual buzz and 'remember them'.
We have done a tiny bit of research on the whole Anzac day thing and there is a plethora of information about it all, but to all intents and purposes, 25th April is the day that is set aside to remember and honour all those soldiers who have fought for King and Country - fallen, wounded and returned, past and present. The first Anzac day was selected as the day when Australian and New Zealand troops landed at Galipolli on 25th April 1915 and has been celebrated every single year bar one since. With the advent of 'Poppy' day which is also celebrated all around the world, somehow this tradition has also been linked with Anzac day and so for a while now, paper poppies are available for purchase almost everywhere and all the presenters on Television and so on have been duly wearing their poppies for the past couple of days.
There are all sorts of parades and flag raising and memorial services planned for almost every place in New Zealand and the main one being held here in Hamilton is a walk from a meeting point in the city to the Memorial Gardens and through the gate. There are buglers who will be playing the last post - these buglers have been flown in especially from somewhere in Europe and are a huge coup for our city evidently. The walk through the main gate will of course be led by veterans - very old, not so old and their families and everyone who has claim to any war medal of any description is entitled to display these proudly beside the poppy on their chests. As far as I can remember, there will be a wreath laying ceremony at the wall of rememberance - we did see this wall when we visited the gardens in the first couple of weeks we were here, so we know just how many hundreds, if not thousands of names are honoured there.
Climbing onto the bandwagon, means that all the shops have Anzac biscuits for sale - basically a coconut macaroon type biscuit and even front pages of computers like yahoo and google, sport Anzac biscuit recipes for the more adventurous. I would think that you should plan ahead if you are wanting to bake these delights for your family since if you don't have all the ingredients to hand on Saturday morning, you won't be able to pop to the shop to buy them. Shops that don't close, and are caught not doing so, are liable for a hefty fine and to be splashed in disgrace on television for all to see!
Skande!
We were hoping for a real parade here in Hamilton with floats and brass bands and the like, but it seems that these sorts of indulgences don't happen in the smaller cities - more in the realm of bigger places like Auckland (the super city saga) and Wellington - the capital.
Whatever, there are sure to be some decent celebrations to catch on the box if we are feeling so inclined.
Dis al!