Simon Waters
IT'S a sickly cliche advertisement for Air New Zealand.
But oh, how well it works.
Go watch the viral video doing the rounds on social media and tell me you are not overcome with patriotism and fluffy feel good fairies.
No? That's OK. We all get out of bed on the wrong side some mornings. The rest of us love it.
Watching Julian Dennison from Hunt For The Wilderpeople fame work alongside Irish heartthrob "Roman" Keating to Kiwianise a popular Christmas carol was magic.
I even found myself defending my airline as something owned by New Zealanders still and something to be proud of. But I also buy socks I don't need when they're on special.
Perhaps it's because it's Christmas. Perhaps too much wine. But there is something about letting down your cynical guard for a second or two and allowing yourself to be swept up in something that makes you smile.
Right now I don't give a toss that Trump won the US election. Or that global warming is likely to bring us a whole lot of grief down the track. For now, I'm revelling in jandals with their plugs pulled through, of dodging prickles on the lawn and barbies sizzling in the sunshine.
It's a Kiwiana many of us remember, and others just dream could be. An innocent country finding its feet and forging its identity among the many other nations and cultures out there. It's why we revel in the All Blacks, and get behind corporate boat races. We crave nationhood and when you let your political leanings down it feels good.
So here's to this wonderful city of Whanganui. Our volunteers who prop so many of us up without thanks or recognition. To our civic leaders who give so freely of their time and wisdom and do their best. To the unremarkable among us whose biggest achievement this year was to get up every morning and try - go to work, care for the kids, climb out of a dark hole. Heroes each and every one of you.
Merry Christmas, Whanganui.
Emergency services went to SH3, near Blueskin Rd in Westmere, about 10.15am today.