Moving to a new country poses all sorts of challenges to a new family - the biggest being that you have left everything you know behind including one of the most important - your family and friends! Starting again in a new place can be very hard and as we all know it takes a lot of time to make good friends and as the new arrivals it is up to you to put in a lot of effort as of course it is you who needs the friends. Those people you are meeting on a daily basis already have a nucleus of good friends around them so you do need to offer something extra in order to gain their interest and trust!
My commute to Auckland was invaluable for this as the Gulf Harbour Ferry was very social and for 50 minutes on the journey there and back you were able to sit with and meet new people on a daily basis and from just this many of our first friendships were started. Of course it also involved hosting innumerable dinner parties and finding those who you as a couple clicked with! As we all know we may get along with a new girlfriend really well but if the partners don't get on when they meet it makes maintaining a friendship quite hard!
Within a fairly short space of time we had been very fortunate to make a good group of friends and who we remain great friends with to this day. I think our home became known as a great dinner and subsequently party place in Whangaparaoa as we held numerous dinner parties and had a party every year.
However in 2011 as a result of the devastating earthquake in Christchurch we decided to change our party format and actually turn it into a party fundraiser for Christchurch - invites went out and were themed the 'Red & Black Party' of which all the guests were asked to attend dressed in red & black themed clothing and to bring a plate of 'red & black food (there were some amazing food concoctions). We charged everyone a $5.00 entrance fee and also arranged a raffle and numerous fundraising games - an awesome sum of $1,600 was raised just from hosting a party!! Imagine how much money could be raised by people using this model all over the world for various charities. So this was how it all began our infamous dress up parties in aid of charity!!
It was an annual event - the Charity Dress-Up Party at our house which continued for five years. In addition to Christchurch we raised money for Hospice, Westpac Helicopter, Starship Hospital and the SPCA. The house took a hammering as the numbers grew at these parties and consequently the drink spillage too - lost count of how many red wine spillages we had on our carpet but it was worth it for the cause. We had huge amounts of fun at all of these parties and the effort and costumes that our guests put into for them was something to behold - not to mention the great fundraising that was done.
One of the most memorable ones was the party held in aid of Hospice. The theme was set as 'Fashion through the Ages' and each guest was asked to come dressed in an outfit purchased from a Hospice Shop. They were also tasked to bring their own glass, knife/fork/spoon and plate also purchased from Hospice and to have their 'bring a plate' on a platter bought from Hospice. The results were amazing - we had all sorts of outfits from all sorts of cultures and eras and the best thing was that all the clothing, crockery, glasses and utensils were all gifted back to Hospice for them to resell again - so a huge win/win!
The parties ended as we renovated our kitchen/living area in preparation to sell as we had decided to move to the Bay of Islands as Auckland had become extremely busy and not the place and lifestyle we moved to New Zealand for. Sadly this meant yet another move and leaving behind a great group of friends once again and my shopping places !!!
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