NZ Visual Diary - entry 403

mates

It’s a Friday afternoon and mates have gathered at one of the special-purpose sea containers that dot the Auckland harbour front to discuss the past week and plan the weekend ahead.

In full mid-Spring mode, the late afternoon temperature hovered at 18 degrees Celcius (64 degrees Fahrenheit), a signal that male Aucklanders ought to shed layers of clothing. While Auckland’s annual weather profile could best be described as a temperate maritime climate, the city’s inhabitants behave as if they lived within the Tropics. If the temperature on any given day throughout the year exceeds single digits (Celcius), then the leisure attire de rigueur for boys and men of any age and class is shorts, shoeless and a tee (or shirtless).

Working men in the trades (think carpenters, electricians, plumbers or construction workers) also have a year-round uniform - hightop laced boots with thick socks, shorts, a thin short-sleeved shirt and High Vis vest.