City ambassadors Aareta Mohi (left) and Janice Fai get their groove and laugh on in Te Marae o Hine - The Square. Photo / Judith Lacy
City ambassadors Aareta Mohi (left) and Janice Fai get their groove and laugh on in Te Marae o Hine - The Square. Photo / Judith Lacy
OPINION:
Who knew playing swingball gives your stomach muscles such a workout! Or was it the laughing at my own incompetence? To hit a ball you apparently need to see it but swiping at an imaginary object is always good for a laugh - from both spectators and players.
Theorange-clad city ambassadors are back at Te Marae o Hine - The Square and this year one of their roles is made clear by chalkboards - play.
New ambassador Leona Revell drew the short blade of grass and was my teacher and opponent as we worked our way around the games that pop out of the Unbox each day.
We start with bag toss. I'm getting whipped until I start to engage my brain rather than my laughter box and notice Leona lands her bags so they slide along the wood into the hole. It's too late though and I lose 5-11.
Abracadabra hoop, loop around the witches hat. City ambassadors George Shiels and Leona Revell wonder what's hit them. Photo / Danu Sefton
Hoop-throwing over road cones appeals, though I prefer to be like an Aussie and call them witches' hats. Rather than a black cat or a broom, I once again need to listen to Leona and follow her side-on throwing technique. By some spell miracle, I get my hoop to bounce off the first cone and land around the second. Woo-hoo, that was some move.
At swingball I morphed into Mr Bean. After much batting and missing, Leona announced we'd play the friendly version. My game didn't improve.
Leona made concessions for me with Jenga too, with the one-touch rule discarded. Being more cerebral, I thought I might perform better than my ball-hitting attempts, but alas no. My cauldron had run out of cognition and - confession warning - I deliberately tanked the game. Leona, full of energy, asked if I wanted to move on to the next game but I said I had to make notes.
This year ambassadors are bringing their skills and knowledge to their shifts with everything from waiata, balloon-animal making and juggling on offer.
There's also croquet, giant Connect 4, volleyball, badminton, and rack ball.
My favourite activity from last year is back - the deck chairs! I lie back and think not of England but Palmy.
I look up. New ambassador Aareta Mohi is dancing, trying to get her colleague George Shiels to groove or at least move. It's amusing viewing and thank goodness they don't ask me to join in. Leona joins in.
She tells me being an ambassador is the most incredible job she's done. "It's an absolute pleasure to come to work."
The job is about making connections and telling people how great Palmy is.
"It's creating a community I want to be a part of. It's a beautiful thing, it's more than just playing games with people."
That said, she's a great fan of play - for adults as much as for children and for its mental health as much as its physical benefits.
She's happy to run egg and spoon races and construct obstacle courses.
When the city ambassadors programme was included in the 10-Year Plan last year, there wasn't universal approval around the council table. But the programme is here now so we may as well get out and make the most of it.
And how about a challenge for the mayor and councillors to start the year off - an egg and spoon race against council officers. I'll be there watching from my deck chair.
