We were all there to be Pirates and succeed in our goal to raise as much gold as possible for the Raglan Lions Youth Community Van Appeal. The money raised is from shaking the buckets in public areas and goes to starting the van appeal run by the Raglan Lions.
The Pirates Event is a `crazy road tour’ with hard to read route instructions, dressed up Pirate costumes and crazy looking vehicles including fire engines, an old 4WD ambulance and other new and old vehicles. The convoy of vehicles with their flashing lights and loud sirens head out of Auckland to a destination our destination on the treasure map called Raglan.
When the event starts, safety notes and route instructions are handed out by the organizers, including the odd bit of battle advise and tips when confronted by the local volunteer fire brigades in the towns the Pirates visit. The volunteer fire brigades are very supportive of the Pirates visits and to assist in raising the profile of the Pirates the fire brigades set up their hoses and have `friendly water skirmishes’ against the Pirates. The passing public love it and the children cheer on their local brigade and on occasion assist with a water balloon or two and the odd bucket full of water.
The Pirates left Papakura on a mainly fine Saturday morning on 6th August and arrived in Waiau Pa first for a quick water battle with the local volunteer fire service. Unfortunately the paper work did not get to them in time and we just had a good Pirates Parley instead. It was really impressive inspecting their new Scania Fire Engine that Trillian Trust contributed funds for. We arrived at Pukekohe with a parade down the main street and at the local markets to hand out `goodies’ for the children whilst shaking the buckets in the curious crowd. The Pirates Convoy then headed to Huntly for a BBQ Lunch put on by the Huntly Volunteer Fire Service. Naturally, Fire Chief Craig Bush (Bushy) was set up for a water battle to greet the Pirates as we arrived. The local constable was also keen to help the fire service and pulled up some of the Pirates vehicles to mar their battle plan. A large amount of money was contributed to the Pirates buckets in Huntly and Bushy said ` we always enjoy having the Pirates visit and support their fund raising efforts for the children in the local communities’.
Leaving Huntly we headed to Raglan and was greeted out of town by the Raglan Volunteer Fire Service Deputy Fire Chief Bob MacLeod and his crew. This was to make sure we had an escort to the Raglan Sports Centre via a grand tour of the Raglan Township. We eventually spotted the fire engines and the children dressed as Pirates were in force to repel the Pirates from taking over their town.
This was an awesome turn out and the fire service put on a good attempt in soaking the Pirates in a water battle. Bob MacLeod was ably supported by a wonderful crew who put on an excellent dinner at the fire station that evening. The music was thumping with the sounds put on by Pirate DJ Matt Grayson and the dancing went on. It was the night the All Blacks were also thumping Australia in the Blediscoe Cup, just an awesome evening. Sunday morning was slower than usual and after a fine cooked breakfast the Pirates headed to Port Waikato on some bumpy and narrow gravel roads. A wonderful lunch at a café then onto Mercer then finishing at the Two Fat Cows Tavern in Drury.
We duly had some refreshments and our prize giving was carried out in true Pirate fashion, with many great stories and trophies to boot. The announcement of raising $1000.00 in the buckets over the weekend for the Raglan Lions Youth Community Van Appeal was met with a hearty roar and charging glasses to a wonderful and memorable weekend away as Pirates …Aaaargh! A message in a bottle