Christmas in New Zealand

Summary of time:

· Christmas Parades and Christmas

· Meeting friends in Auckland

- Being a local in Kawakawa

Life becomes a routine in Kawakawa, being involved with the railway, doing DIY, involved with church.

Being the festive season, it was time for the Christmas Parade, but also the decorating of the Christmas trees by the local primary school. Each class had their own tree, and they would be judged and prizes awarded. Shirley was the judge, with some help from Mike and myself. After judging we had fish and chips takeaway. Fresh fish…. fish and chips in NZ are very good.

Next day was the Xmas Parade, with Santa and his helpers on the carriage. I was a helper…dressed as a clown.

Later that day, Shirley took me off to see Opua – where the railway used to run to and the hope is that it will back up there in 2 years – and Paiha, which would be packed at Christmas and New Year, when there is a Summer Music Festival. Unfortunately it rained, so we didn’t spend long anywhere.

Although it rained, it was only short showers, that didn’t really soak the ground, and in the following sunshine soon disappeared.

And soon 2 weeks have passed. It was time to head to Auckland and meet up with Andy and Ruth who were flying into New Zealand; we last met up in Vancouver.

I caught the bus down, found the apartment block we were staying at, and then went for a wander around Auckland CBD. It is not a large area, so I soon found my way around, and found a nice little Italian for dinner. Andy and Ruth would be arriving at some point the next day, but would probably catch up on sleep. It started off with a slow morning…and my computer decided to stop working, I later found out that it was a common fault with that particular brand/computer!

Then wandered around some more of the city, finding out things that we could do the next day. I had lunch in a Belgian bar, and then sat in the park reading my book…oh it’s great being on holiday.

Later that evening, Andy and Ruth came in and we chatted, sharing stories of our different adventures since we had last met almost 3 months previous. It was great to be with people who know you.

We had another slow start to the day, having coffee and cake, before heading off to Kelly Tarltons, which is the local Aquarium and also information and displays about the Antarctic expeditions. We all loved seeing the Penguins – Gentoo and King.

We had to wait for the last free shuttle back to CBD, which was a minibus, which had a shark on it…. there was a fin and tail, sticking out of the top, and the mouth at the front. We had dinner at the Italian… we were so early they were just opening up, but service was not slow.

Next day we were booked in for brunch up the Sky Tower Restaurant. Ruth had been told to book, as it might get full, as it was the week before Christmas…. We were the 2^nd group to arrive, and there were probably only 6 other groups the whole time we were in! The restaurant revolved as we ate, so we had an ever-changing view…it was overcast, but still warm. We then parted ways, I was on a bus back to kawakawa, and they were catching a flight to wellington.

Back in kawakawa and to my “normal” life, church, DIY, train ….

Sunday evening I attended carols at Fallowfield – this is an area of Manchester and also a historic homestead nr Kawakawa. It was strange to be at a carol service outside, where it didn’t get dark till about 9pm and it was in the 20’s!

Monday I was back on the train as guard, and my first trip all the way up to the new station at Taumarere.

Tuesday I was guard again, but we didn’t have any customers for any of the trains, there had been a major road accident just south on SH1 and due to the delays / diversions people were not stopping.

Christmas was fast approaching and I hadn’t done any Christmas shopping…well I had organised a couple of things online for family back in the UK, but I needed to do some shopping for local friends. I headed off to Paiha, and found somethings I was looking for … presents for family, which would get posted after Christmas, but then also headed to Kerikeri.

Christmas Eve I was guard on the train.

Christmas Day, and I rang family in wales, I spoke to my nephew who totally gets this time difference… he was going to bed waiting for presents, and I was getting up for my presents! It was great to speak to everyone. I’m glad it didn’t really feel like Christmas, as I am used to a big family affair, lots of presents under the tree, big tree. Here we had a small tree and a couple of presents, with temperatures that reached 30 by mid afternoon!

There were 4 others joining us for Dinner… bbq and roast dinner. Shrimps and Steak from the Barbie…

There was plenty of food, and some drinks consumed. A good time was had by all.

Before going to bed, I rang Wales again, to hear about some of the presents that the kids had opened, but a huge mountain was still be tackled. They had also built a Snow Rex.

Boxing Day was Shirley’s birthday, but we had a job to do. There were leaflets to be delivered to all the motels, hotels, hostels, and holiday parks in Paiha and Opua.