Where was everyone?
As is our usual “Kiwi Christmas Tradition”, we headed to the beach for Boxing Day. Now usually, Boxing day is one of 2 days of the entire year (along with New Years Day) when we don’t have the beach pretty much to ourselves. It’s packed. Well, packed for Riversdale – which is to say the car park is full, you have to queue to order coffee and there are actually other people on the beach and in the sea.
But not this year.
Apparently everyone was shopping – record attendance at the boxing day sales. Madness – while I dislike shopping at the best of times – my mind boggles at the thought of fighting hordes of people to “grab a bargain” (which here probably amounts to paying something akin to the correct price) when you can enjoy weather and sea like that.
I hope everyone had a nice break. We have had several days of stunning weather, which warmed the pool up beautifully, allowing for a lovely refreshing pre-christmas-dinner dip for the cook.
I am finally beginning to really appreciate the Kiwi Christmas!
Merry Christmas :)
Here’s hoping no matter where you are that you have a lovely christmas. And because I just can’t let this go with a bit of geek humour:
And added with thanks to Scott 
From Obvious Winner
Buying really real Christmas Trees in New Zealand.
A few weeks ago, one of my friends on Facebook, Julia, asked whether it was possible to get REAL Christmas trees here. Not just real as in – cut from a living tree rather than a fake tree, but a proper British Spruce (actually a Norway Spruce) tree rather than the New Zealand version which is actually a Pinus Radiata. The UK “Christmas tree has short spiky needles – the NZ tree has very long floppy needles.
I promptly explained that no it wasn’t possible – because New Zealand is heavily into not allowing “alien” species into the country – just try explaining to a Kiwi that gorse bushes are actually nice. My parents have nearly been lynched a few times for that.
I have to say – I am really pleased to be able to say I was completely wrong.
Julia found a company, Fresh and Bushy Christmas Trees out in Johnsonville that sells a range of Christmas tree species. We also found The Classic Christmas Tree company near Greytown, which also sells a range of trees. Before we have always gone to the Real Christmas Tree Farm at Featherston.
This was the tree (Radiata) that we bought from them last year:
But this is the tree we found after Julia’s information that other species of tree were actually available:
We got it home and it is now duly decorated. On the minus side – it does hurt a lot more getting baubles on these trees than on the New Zealand trees. On the plus side, they do look more like “Christmas Trees”, and the branches are stronger. And it wont destroy my vacuum Cleaner when it comes time to clean up.
By the way, Julia has set up a local Settlement Support Group – the Hutt City Ex-Pats. You can find them on Facebook. I’ve actually “known” Julia since I first came to New Zealand, when I discovered the old (now defunct) UK2NZ forum. although she only actually moved over to NZ herself just over a year ago. It has been quite lovely following her Facebook posts and seeing the fresh (and much less jaded than mine) look at life in a new country. Pop by and say hello!
And we thought doing summer christmas was a bit odd…
Here is some end of year humour courtesy of FailBook.
see more Failbook
Have a great New Year everyone!
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Boxing day in New Zealand: Beach or…
Filed under: Beaches in New Zealand, Life in New Zealand
Shopping?
Apparently, according to the news (so it must be true) boxing day is the busiest shopping day in New Zealand. And given the fact that as we went past the Warehouse in Masterton yesterday on the way to the beach, the carpark was overflowing and all the spaces on the street were full of cars – there does seem to be some truth in this.
One woman interviewed on the news said they had been queuing at Sylvia Park in Auckland since 6.15am. 
Well, sod that.
We headed straight to the beach – no detouring for “sales” and crowds of people. Sun, sand, surf and coffee is what an NZ Boxing Day should be like for me. Chilling with a book and and freezing in the waves. Chomping through a picnic of left over Christmas dinner.
Today, we aren’t actually off to the beach – but there will be no shopping, with a high probability of lots of lounging by the pool, a bit more reading and a swim or two.
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Christmas by the pool with chilled mulled wine.
This year – for the first time, the run-up to Christmas here in NZ actually felt a bit Christmassy. I have no idea why: maybe I’ve just been here long enough now that it feels a bit less odd; maybe its becuase this is the first time we don’t have immigration worries hanging over our heads and I know without a doubt we are staying.
Either way,it all felt a bit more real and relaxed.
Rather than embrace the way most Kiwis do Christmas, we have more just altered some of our family traditions to take into account the fact its absolutely scorching hot and we need the air con on max.
Kiwi Christmas dinner is more about hams and salads than turkey and trimmings. As none of us are really that fussed about a ham, it seems a bit pointless to cook it and eat it. So we have turkey and trimmings – at about 6pm when its cool enough to sit out on the patio and gaze at the view. Lunch was a rather old fashioned prawn cocktail – but with the addition of some Crays – given to us by one of our neighbors in exchange from some old pink-batts we are replacing.
See – we can do this Kiwi lark!
And while waiting for the turkey to cook, we basically lounged by the pool, relaxed and chilled.
Oh – and the mulled wine. I discovered last year that mulled wine (a favorite of mine from years at uni spent at medieval banquets) tastes absolutely delicious if you make it it advance and stick it in the fridge for a few hours. Its a great drink to go with a Christmas dinner out on the patio.
Followed by a bit more lounging round the pool, letting dinner settle before eventually managing some black forest trifle for pudding.
There are certainly worse ways to spend the day.
Now its boxing day – and another of our new traditions – off to the beach.
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NORAD Tracks Santa 2010
It’s Christmas eve, and I think I may finally be getting the hang of a summer Christmas. I don’t know if its that we have just been long enough that I have got used to it now, or that this is the first time we can have a family Christmas without any threat of the family not being able to stay here. Either way, the run up to Christmas this year was a lot more “christmassy”.
And NORAD Tracks Santa is about to start following Santa as he chases round the world (starting off on his journey down here of course in about 10 hours.)
Enjoy, and have a great Christmas wherever in the world you are reading this from.
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Wellington’s Christmas Tree
Filed under: Life in New Zealand, Only in New Zealand, Things to do
Waitangi Park on the waterfront is playing host to a rather wonderful Christmas tree – built by Telecom NZ.
What I did not realise till today, is that they have placed a whole load of beanbags in the center underneath the tree, so you can lounge underneath it and gaze up at the lights.
It’s really rather special.
And rather Christmassy – while not being so cold that you actually cant enjoy it. It just goes to show – summer and Christmas can actually work together – though you do have to wait till about 9pm at night for dark to make the most of it.
Here is my first ever You Tube upload. No critics please – the video is done on a small and not expensive camera!
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Attempting to use the Whitcoulls “sale”
We had a shopping list of about 100 items: books and DVD’s that we need to choose from for Christmas presents. We will generally be buying from Amazon.co.uk to make the most of the exchange rate, and the fact that books and DVD’s are hideously expensive in New Zealand.
But Whitcoulls are running a sale at the moment. You need to have a copy of the “Pick Your Price” vouchers (available at the entrance of the store). And unfortunately, it was the last day of the “sale” today. Not that you would be missing much.
As you can see – 50% off a single fiction paperback. Which is great – becuase 50% off means you actually pay about as much for the book as you would at Amazon. Often – that even takes into account the shipping fees with the exchange rate working in our favour. And the limit of one book means you just have keep going to the checkout or work in a tag team. And 50% of Greetings cards – which included individual Christmas cards actually did make quite a saving.
BUT.
Theres a caveat in the stores that says anything with a “Hot Price” sticker on is excluded from using these vouchers. OK – so not necessarily an issue, as its already on sale. Right?
Wrong.
We found a book we needed. Price $42.99 for a Trade Paperback. Same book in Hardback is £11.20 at amazon, or about $24.00. So 50% off isn’t bad, bearing in mind that we save the shipping fee. But Wait – it’s a HOT PRICE!
Of $39.99!
So Whitcoulls have “slashed” a whole $3.00 of the price, so you cant actually use your 50% voucher.
And then tried to justify it to us with the whole “It’s to do with the fair trading act” line, which I personally don’t really give two hoots about. We really don’t want to know WHY you are doing it, and don’t really care – we will just carry on buying from Amazon and getting our books for a reasonable price.
So out of almost 100 items we were looking for, how many did we find that were cheaper?
2 (Two).
The Amazon elves are going to busy again this year for us.
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So how did Christmas go?
Well, it seems we still failed utterly to do the “kiwi thing” and spend up large in an orgy of last minute consumerism and boxing day sales. Instead we chilled out at home, sat on the deck, swam in the pool, ate good food and watched a few movies. We would have gone to the beach except that since yesterday the weather took a turn for the worse and its rather crap.
Apparently. Despite everyone having no money, and there being a recession on and all– Kiwi’s spent a record amount this year in the shops – a whopping $10,000,000 more than last year. And then topped it off with another record spend up of over $100,000,000 on boxing day.
We on the other hand seem to have spent a record low .
I have worked out though – its not the summer Christmas itself I can’t cope with – it’s actually rather nice to be able to have a swim in the pool before dinner (after getting all the food ready), to be able to sit out in the sun and be warm. And its lovely to head to the beach in the days after Christmas – which has to be more fun than queuing up to spend money in the Warehouse surely? It really is just the run up to the day that I can’t get the hang of. Once we get to Christmas Eve – and I’m making chocolates, making trifle and getting the stuffing ready – I’m fully on board and in the mood for Christmas. And as soon as the wine starts mulling (can do without it – but in deference to summer we drink it chilled) – then I’m away!
One of the really cool things about Christmas here as an expat is that you do have this wonderful opportunity to make new family traditions. While many of us do keep a lot of our old traditions – I just have to have turkey for dinner – we get to make up new ones (pre-dinner swim, boxing day at the beach, hand making chocolates).
It may not be Christmas the same way it used to be, but there’s still family involved, and that’s all that matters for us.
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