Army veteran Gary Brandon spends Anzac Day in his mancave - not alone, but with around 300 mates. He's turned it into a museum/bar where he and fellow vets meet for a drink, a barbie and a chance to reminisce.
It all began when Brandon started collecting memorabilia for his mancave he calls the Onward Bar.
"Boys come in, they just drop stuff off and then display it otherwise it gets hidden in a wardrobe," he told Newshub.
"It's taken on a huge life of its own, it's got most of my memorabilia in it and a whole heap of other people's."
They say "if you build it they will come", and old comrades have done so in droves. The bar has become Taupo's de facto RSA after the old one was closed.
"Some of these guys I haven't seen for 30 years and it brings back a lot of memories," Brandon says.
Soon came the idea of a Anzac Day gathering.
"I just ran into a few people, got their phone numbers, swapped numbers and then ran into someone else... and then the group sort of got together slowly."
Slowly to begin with. The first gathering drew 38, the next 135, the latest one 330.
A lot of military traditions remembering fallen comrades go back centuries - but the new ones are often just as effective.
