Christmas Day

With all the leisure time available now that we are on holiday, I could attempt to update the blog more than my customary once per week.

We have experienced our first Kiwi Christmas and had a pleasant day. It was very different to last years. Far less sociable, steak and swimming would sum up the main differences. Church was a lot quieter than usual, which was a surprise as many catholics make a special effort to turn up only on Christmas Day and at Easter in the UK. Perhaps they all went to the midnight mass. Father Pat gave a good sermon on the differences that the birth of Jesus has made in the world.

We had made the boys wait until after church before they opened their presents, much to their dismay. Lots of talk about "delayed gratification" was met with protests, all to no avail. The presents went down well and the surprise trip to Wellington was well received. Chantelle had made booklets giving a detailed itinerary. The boys have been studying times of arrival and departure and discussing them.

After that we went for a swim in the Mangamuka Gorge. We found a flat field with access to a cooling swimming hole and we all had a dip. Even Mum! We were disappointed at the amount of discarded food lying about which made it feel more like England than NZ, but apparently there is an element here that thinks nothing of chucking their bottles and cans out in a pile after their feed.

Back home to lounge out in the garden, eat steak for tea, have a bush bath etc. The TV did not look too promising, but I found 2 good films "Lucky Break" with James Nesbitt and a real cracker called The Stationmaster - American, minimal dialogue, very lttle plot, but very well observed.

Chantelle had spent the day making and receiving phone calls from the UK. I tried making mine on Boxing Day but only made contact with Dominic. Mum and Dad rang up at midnight on Christmas Day. I'll try and catch the rest of you guys at Clare's party.