It was a stunning success. Kind of strange to have Thanksgiving in the southern hemisphere since that means its almost summer here right now, but we had rain squalls and a thunderstorm today, so that kinda worked.

Thanksgiving in Whangarei (Riverside Marina)

...and the other side of the dinner.

Anyway, the brined turkeys turned out brilliantly with the help of our chef friend “Rand” (of Leluvia, Aitutaki and Rarotonga fame) who happened to drop by right as we were putting the birds on the grill. Rand offered moral support and some good tips on grilling. The birds turned out perfect. Juicy, not dry and with a slight smokey flavor. I’m always going to do them this way in the future. We also had mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, stuffing, string beans in chopped garlic, bread rolls, pumpkin pie and chocolate chip cookie/brownie things.

24 hours in brine and grilled on the BBQ. Yum!

Everyone brought something and we had full plates of great food.

Gary came through with possibly the first ever pumpkin pie make by a Kiwi.

All the dishes were fantastic as was the company. You could hardly ask for more. Although all of us missed our families, we all agreed we also are a family. The family that comes from shared experience (sometimes terror) and we know that each of us would do anything to help the other. That’s what it’s all about.

Happy a Thanksgiving to all our other family and friends and we’ll look forward to seeing you soon.