Oh the weather outside is frightful…

…well it isn’t really. It’s about 25 degrees and not a cloud in the sky!

Lots of people ask “what’s it like having Christmas in the sun, does it feel weird?” Well, yes it does! All the Christmas songs talk about snow and mulled wine when most people here are in shorts and t-shirts gasping for a cold beer. I would say it feels less Christmassy here, but that’s not to say I don’t still enjoy it. A Christmas in the UK and a Kiwi Christmas are both quite different and both are enjoyable. As long as you can accept that it will not be the same in NZ and just embrace it then you’ll be fine!

Christmas for us was pretty good. Christmas eve was spent with friends playing “Kubb” and “Klopp”. Both basically involve throwing wood at other bits of wood so it was right up our street. Kubb involved throwing a wooden plank at a set of pins and the first to 50 won. Mr M started out very well. I started out shockingly bad and ended up winning 😀 We then played Kubb but it was getting a bit dark to play so we had to use fake tea lights to see what we were doing! It was boys against girls and after a very short game in the dark it was time to call it a night. It was a great evening for it – warm and still until about 10:30pm.

We woke up Christmas morning to beautiful weather. Sunshine and about 25 degrees. We loaded up the car and headed to North Canterbury where we spent three nights at Aunty A and uncle G’s house. Well, it didn’t last long! From about midday and for about 4 days after it rained! There were plans for a vineyard tour by bike, bbq’s and hikes but sadly not this year. Instead we sat in and ate too much food. I’m now pleased to report that this week the weather is finally coming right and we are in for some sunshine!

New Year was spent partly working. After work we headed into the Port Hills to watch the final sunset of 2013. It’s a great spot for watching the sun set over the Southern Alps. If you head up Dyers Pass Road to Victoria Park, pick a spot looking out west and you’ll get a good view. Then it was fireworks in Hagley Park at midnight whilst listening to the NZ Army band, who were very good!

Happy New Year everyone!