M*A*S*H, Beach adventures and the District Conference

The western beaches of Auckland are known for their black sand and our team swam had a couple of opportunities to swim in the Tasman Sea this weekend. On Saturday we crashed into the waves at Muriwai and tried body surfing - Darren had the most success. That evening a few of us got into the M*A*S*H theme of the District Conference dinner and celebration and dressed in scrubs and Hawaiian shirts. We enjoyed an evening of reuniting with host families from the clubs we visited and tried to keep up with Bob and Chris Lang on the dance floor. The International Youth Exchange students entertained the crowd with the young men performing a haka and the women showed us their poi skills. Sunday morning we returned to the District Conference and learned about the transformational work of ROMAC, Rotary Oceanic Medical Aid for Children, a program of the districts of Australia and New Zealand. This charity provides medical treatment for children from developing countries in the form of life saving and dignity restoring surgery not accessible in their home country. The keynote speaker, Sir Ray Avery, inspired us with his story of how he went from being a homeless street kid in London to success in business and then as a scientist, inventing life-saving medical products. After the District Conference ended, we grabbed our togs (Kiwi for swimsuit or trunks) and jandals (sandals) and headed to Betthels Beach. We each rode the waves and held on for a wild ride in a rescue boat with one of the volunteer life guards. Darren, Christina and Jeff tried boogie boarding and after our swim we went for a walk through the Waitakere Ranges rainforest before coming back to our host families.