A Parade

There was a large parade down Queen Street last weekend. I thought P might like to see the pictures:
Fish playing music.
Los Alamos Mining Company? New Mexicans? Must be something I am missing, as usual...
In case you were wondering, yes, there are McDonalds here and as you can see, we're all loving it. Also Burger King, Wendy's, KFC, and Subway. I was curious about something called the "McCafe" and was surprised to find this to be some kind of McD/Starbucks combination inside the restaurant! ST had warned me of this trend from his time in Moscow. Oh yes, there are also Starbucks here selling Coffee American-o from every available retail space.
Pigs, horses, guy with a fiddle.
And PIRATES! Yes! PIRATES! Right on!

I did not wait around for Santa (this was an Xmas parade) but I imagine he was wearing a pair of shorts and winking. In my short experience I have found that winking is very popular in NZ. My dad wondered about the "bell ringers" that are ubiquitous around American shopping centers in Nov/Dec. Yes, those are here as well.