Hot weather spells BBQ

It may be nearing summertime, but the bbqs have been out for some months. Our first, something of house warming, was arranged spontaneously, the Saturday hangover providing the thirst for red meat and cold beer. We weren’t alone.

The Sunday noon kick off attracting plenty of faces from the various lines work places and local hangouts. Made for a great day, the kiwi practice of turning up with ice buckets full of piss and bags brimming with home cooked grub exploited to the max.



Kyle and Tamsyn were first to arrive.
The former bringing with him a number of bottles from his latest batch of excellent, not to mention strong, homebrew. The pilsners and golden lagers certainly doing their bit to put us on a level from where the only place to go is down. Seriously though, the fridges have never been so full – it seemed to be raining beer and wine at 11 Edgerley Avenue!

The sun beating down, the hammocks strung up, the sweet smelling aroma of New Zealand green and a dozen dozens of refreshing beer.
The house in Edgerley really is the perfect party venue. All doors open onto a decking which flanks both sides of the house. The kitchen spills out onto the grass at the back, the dining room, too.

On the down side, such was the turn out and the number of new faces, you rarely got more than a drink with visiting folk. A real bonus though to meet people outside our social circle, people like Lee and Serena, fellow Brits who stuck two fingers up at Blair ten years ago. Of course, where beer and wine is concerned, Josh and Sue seem to head the queue every time.

Such is the geography of Auckland, most people are forced to drive, especially those outside the city’s limited suburban rail network (in truth, it’s an efficient, cheap and reliable service, so are the buses, kiwis just don’t do public transport). That spells ‘designated driver’.

Still, leaves more beer for the rest of us! Not seen the man Kyle quite so bevied in some time, the look of total perplex ion on his face honest testament to a good afternoon’s work. Kyle, why do your eyes go like ‘that’ when you’re pissed?

Outside of Henderson (west Auckland’s chav central) you’d be hard pressed to come up with a fact to support Marit’s colleagues as government workers. The Child, Youth and Family department certainly know how to sink piss and were the last standing when the sun finally went down.

Marit fits right in with the popping corks and clinking glasses. Put the journalist contingent to shame in the boozing stakes, not something I’m proud of either! Can’t really recall too much of the afternoon, except that the party shifted inside at some stage and the ‘reds for a rainy day’ were significantly depleted come kick out time. Monday morning was no fun. First time in a long time breakfast has been a steak and kidney pie – it was followed by a steak and cheese and spicy sausage roll. Reckon the four full wheelie bins we had to drag out this morning are some indication of how the rest were feeling!