♪” It’s a real New Zealand Christmas – there’s no fire, no snow, no sleigh! Everything has come to a grinding halt and at last it’s Christmas Day! ♪ We’re wearing shorts and jandals, singing songs of Christmas cheer… Mum’s organised the family lunch and dad’ll be drinking Kiwi beer!”♫♩
This year everyone in our family had a “warm Christmas” but ours was upside down, sunny side up! It was the first time the kids and Tom experienced Christmas in the summer. One of the things we love most about traveling is learning the culture of a community, the culture of a new country. This was the first Christmas I have had in NZ for over 15 years and not much has changed. It is still all about fun hokey Christmas parades, Santa on the beach, lolly scrambles for the kids, barefoot BBQs and a warm summer breeze.
Here people don’t put lights on their houses and there are no perfect Douglas fir pines going up in every house. Come to think of it, other than at home I didn’t hear any of the tunes that you can’t seem to escape back in America. Don’t get me wrong, I love this season in the snow but it was fun to see if differently and for my family to share what I grew up on.
The kids were all concerned about the Christmas tree…we don’t have many pines around us and the thought of finding one on the side of the road did not go over well with the rule follower in our house (Solana). Instead she got innovative and decided we would make one. With a few Google searches we had a general idea and the results were magical. Here are our quick DIY tips >>
So with joy and magic in my heart I’m happy to say that the Christmas spirit was very much felt and it will be one we remember… New traditions were made and Santa found our house in the bush by the beach!!
xoxx Susanna
