Parachute 09

On Sunday morning, after an imperative coffee (made with the boiling water from the brilliant hot water boxes that are everywhere in this country), we toddled into town to check out the food and wine market that was going on.

It was super festive…and also extremely HOT. Thank heavens for sunscreen, hats, and SPF 50!

After wandering and sampling little treats, we purchased a random little supply of goods and devoured them under the shade of a big ol' tree.

We also purchased a delicious little Mexican treat (that's a pile of black beans on the left- not a mound of steaming cow dung)...

(Marc & Kylie have these subtle Canadian shirts....unlike Lowell and I who generally wear bright red and white shirts that scream "CANADA! WE'RE FROM CANADA! THAT MAKES US CANADIAN! OUR NATIONAL SYMBOL IS A MAPLE LEAF AND OUR COLOURS ARE RED & WHITE!!!")

Then it was time to head to the beach AGAIN! We spent time boogying on our boards and (unintentionally) gnawing on sand (as it was particularly windy that day). After showering up from that beach experience, we had a power nap, then Lowell and I headed to Parachute Music Festival.

Parachute is a Christian music festival held near Hamilton which is about an hour away from Raglan. People (?25,000) camp there for the entire long weekend.

Here's Lowell eagerly awaiting the main events...

Introducing DAVID CROWDER and his funky runky hair which changed colour depending on the colour of the lights...

As a little entertainment between musicians, dudes in sumo suits lay on the front of the 'Parachute buggy" and were hurled down a slip 'n slide to knock down human bowling pins.

And now ladies and gents, the band that I was SO EXCITED to see...

...CASTING CROWNS!!

They put on an amaaaaazing show, and I sang along the entire time (as did everyone else)...

The drummer was a hoot and incredibly talented & entertaining...

We had the privilege of rocking with other bands as well, but DC and CC were particularly noteworthy as we are big giant fans.

By 1am Monday morning, we had finally returned to our Raglan campsite, and we were ready for some shut-eye. The slumber didn’t last long, however, as we had our first surf lesson through Raglan Surf School at 9am!

Hmmm.... were we successful surfers? Are we now pros? Did we spend the morning falling on every single part of our bodies? Did we get attacked by sharks?!??!?

You'll just have to wait and see.