Canuck to Kiwi...My Adventures in NZ!

Ah, Christmas vacation! Something that, to my benefit, New Zealanders take very seriously. The cafe is closed for 2 weeks, which is not uncommon here. Aside from grocery stores, or the stores in the mall, lots of smaller businesses close for an extended period over Christmas. I've even taken it a step further and taken an extra week off so we can go on a road trip to Queenstown. David also has 3 weeks off from his job. I think it's important to have a nice long holiday to relax every now and again. Now that I have a job, I remember what it's like to do absolutely nothing and love it. When you're unemployed, there's constant pressure to find a job, so you can never totally relax..you always feel like you should be doing something productive or working on your job search. I forgot how great it is to wake up late, lounge around, take naps, and just do whatever you feel like doing. To kick off our Christmas holidays, David and I went to Totaranui, a popular camping

I have to say, I just can't seem to wrap my head around the concept of summer and Christmas coinciding. If I didn't have some early reminders that Christmas was coming in the form of events like the Santa Parade (which, as you can see from the picture is a summer parade with Santa Claus!) or the Christmas music in the mall, I wouldn't really have even remembered that Christmas was coming at all! Even with these reminders, I forget again as soon as I step outside into summer weather. David has gone to great lengths to get me in the Christmas spirit and make it feel like Christmas. We have a real Christmas tree in our living room, decorated with ornaments and lights, and I have a collection of Christmas cards displayed around the house. I had a moment of panic when I got my first Christmas card in the mail, because not only had I not sent any out, I hadn't even bought the cards. I was eventually inspired to get some cards, but even writing and sending them out didn'