celebrating in the rain

I'm posting this from Devonport in Auckland, where the kids and I have just returned from getting this close to the America's Cup homecoming parade. What a great shot I got huh? It was a different experience to the last America's Cup parade I was at, as a young reporter for the New Zealand Herald. I remember the atmosphere like it was yesterday; so many cheers, smiles, a rainbow of tape being thrown about and bags of rice being emptied from buildings on Queen St. Today it was pouring with rain when the main men came past, but the rain (according to Team NZ boss Grant Dalton) is a good omen. Sometimes I miss daily news - when you get to chase around the one person that everyone wants to speak to on the day. But today I had just as much fun doing that from the sidelines. It was a buzz to see the reaction of my two young sons - who have always lived in a coastal town of just 1600 people - as they stood wide-eyed in awe at the crowds and the atmosphere. Our local school in Tairua celebrates the value of "innovative and creative thinkers". So we wagged school for the day to celebrate some of the best examples of innovation and creative thinking that New Zealand has seen in a while. Go Team New Zealand.