Christmas Eve at home in Northern Ireland is usually a fairly manic day were we rush around picking up last minute things for our Christmas dinner, and extra presents. We are often wrapped up toasty warm, it is dark at 3pm and there are Christmas carols being played over a PA system in town. It really feels like Christmas … or I guess, the Christmas that I have been brought up in.
Christmas 2011 was my last Christmas at home. I spent 10 days at home prior to moving to New Zealand. It is hard to believe that it has been a year that has passed since that time. I was at my parents home for Christmas eve/day, then on boxing day we left to go to Belfast, where we spent 2 nights in a hotel, and just had quality family time. It was pretty special.
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| Christmas 2011 lunch with my three younger sisters, great aunt and uncles |
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| Dad carving the turkey |
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| Terrorising Lola the rabbit with Rudolph ears |
Christmas 2012
Christmas Eve morning, I woke up at 6am sweating. It was about 26 degrees, and despite having a fan on, I couldn’t sleep much. My sister and I hung about the house until lunch time, then decided to head into Auckland central. Trains were not running, so we jumped on a bus. It was so humid in town, and rained on and off .. not exactly what I expected of a southern hemisphere Christmas season. We picked up a couple of gifts for our kid cousins and family, and had a wander around.
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| Normally Christmas for us is hot chocolate and mince pies. This is my sister in a summer vest top with a cold smoothie and mince pie. |
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| Kiwi Christmas: A Christmas tree made out of flip flops (jandels/thongs) |
Got an obligatory photograph with a Santa hat and summer clothing.
We got to my aunts place around 6pm, in time to have dinner with the kids, help them put out cookies, milk and a carrot for Santa and his reindeer’s. Our aunt was working, so we spent time watching DVDs and resting, after what had been a bit of a crazy week of travelling.
Christmas Day
Christmas morning, the kids were up extremely early, as usual. I think I got up around 8am in the end. It was dull and very overcast. On the agenda for the morning was a breakfast for us all and some of my aunts close friends. We had a huge spread set out including pancakes and bacon, fruit, bagels with salmon and cream cheese (I didn’t entertain that one!), and champagne. Not something I am used to. We ate out on the deck, with the rain drizzling over the cover.
The kids then tore into all their Christmas presents quickly. Normally at home we all sit around and open presents after our main dinner (Christmas lunch) and often do it one at a time, so that people can see who got what and from whom. However, I guess I am talking about 3 children aged 3-9.
After this we headed down to Bucklands beach, which is the local beach near my aunts place. It had brightened up a little, and we spent a while paddling and playing with the kids.
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| Christmas Day 2012, Auckland, New Zealand: shorts and a Santa hat, paddling in the sea. |
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| Bucklands Beach, Auckland |
Christmas dinner later was a BBQ, which we later found out isn’t always normal in kiwi culture. Most people have a ham and some turkey with salads and potatoes.
Before coming to New Zealand, I always assumed that people in this part of the world would go to the beach en mass and have a huge BBQ. If I am still on this side of the world for Christmas 2013, I am going to do just that.
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| Christmas table decoration with the BBQ in the background |
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| Pavlova: A kiwi favourite, anytime of the year |
After dinner, my aunt and family left to head down to Lake Taupo for the rest of their holidays. We were supposed to go, but communication got a bit messy, and we ended up staying in Auckland. I felt bad for my sister, as she would now be in Auckland on her own from Wednesday night to Saturday morning.
We headed back to my sisters friends place, mainly because they had wifi and my aunt did not. We spent a long time Skyping my parents and opened presents this way. It was quite good that we were able to do this, but seeing my home, family and sisters I got really homesick.
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| Skype date with mum and my youngest sister Jessica. |
Boxing Day
After a late night into bed, we were woken up by a Carbon Monoxide alarm going off. It turned off and on a few times, but we had no idea what to do, or who to call. So a shattered pair, we gathered up our belongings and left at 7am to go back to our Aunts house, we we slept until 10am. During the afternoon, we headed round to a house of a friend at church in Christchurch to have a leftovers BBQ, which was a pretty big feast, and lovely to introduce my sister to some people I had come to know over the past year.
My flight out of Auckland was scheduled for 9.45pm, which I booked so I could spend a lot of time with my sister and family. It ended up being delayed for an hour and a half (Jetstar .. say no more!)
I was quite sad leaving Auckland to head back to Christchurch, possibly because I had spent so much time with my family and I knew that my sister would be on her own for a while, and I would be going back to an empty house.
So … Christmas in New Zealand, is very different. Something I’ve wanted to experience at some point, and glad I did. Next year, I’d like it to be much more planned perhaps.
Merry Christmas to you all, and thanks for continuing to read my blog.
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