The sixth annual Get off the Concrete men’s summer gathering was held, as in the previous two years, at the forestry camp at the northern end of Pakiri Beach north of Auckland.
This year we achieved the milestone of catering to over 100 men at the camp, including a dozen high school boys as well as some men from Australia and one from as far away as the west coast of the United States, giving the event an international flavour.
There was a growing sense of shared ownership of the event as manifested by the large contingency of men who came early to help with its construction starting the weekend before. As well as our unique bamboo and rubber band constructions, big pine logs were added with a magnificent tarpaulin that extended the cookhouse to give excellent shelter to our chai area where hot drinks were available 24 hours a day. The tarpaulin that covered our main meeting area was another architectural delight with a water feature, originally intended for our opening, magically cascading whenever anyone sat within its vicinity.
While the cooks may have initially planned for only 80 men, last minute trips to town ensured an abundance of food was always on hand. Lamb roasted onsite on a spit was just one of the many highlights with everyone seemingly enjoying their turns in the kitchen. Many also volunteered for such communal duties as maintaining the Chai Tent to hosing out the toilets, all of which contributed to the smooth running and success of the camp.
This year’s weather was magnificent. A sprinkling of rain on the morning prior to everyone’s arrival seemed to refresh the campsite and enhance its aura of welcome. Bright sunshine, thereafter, combined with ample cloud cover, enabled a wide array of outside activities to held in comfort of warm summer temperatures.
According to the surfers, the beach was the place to be with the surf being the best ever. The full moon on Thursday night had half the camp venturing to the beach to witness the unforgettable sight of the moon ascending out of the water. Those choosing to stay at the campsite that evening were not disappointed, however, as an astonishing array of original and published poetry, mixed in with musical interludes, saw our “Poetry Evening” climbing to unparalleled heights by anyone’s standard.
Once again, a wondrous variety of workshops catered to our physical and artistic needs. Archery, drumming, concrete sculpture, erection of our magnificent tepee, psycho drama, sounding, tai chi, surfing instruction, creating musical instruments from bush materials (eg. log drums, bull roarers, slap basses, etc), wrestling, spontaneous poetry, not to mention “creative idleness” made for never a dull moment. And then there were also the many discussion groups covering all sorts of topics as well as great conversations about nothing at all.
The music was once again brilliant. We had two wonderful flautists, a harmonica player and many guitarists, singers and drummers, resulting in impromptu jam sessions breaking out all over the place. The “Celebration Night” saw so many offerings that about 10 items had to be cut from the programme through lack of time.
But the soul of our gatherings has always been our “Heart Circle” and this year was no exception. With the deepening of our love for each other coming from the rich sharing of our life’s experiences, we are learning a new way of being together as men that enriches our relationships with everyone we meet. Roll on February 2006 so that, in the words of the Beach Boys, we can “Do It Again”!!!