New Zealand

[By Nicolás Campso]

 At night you can walk through some streets
that have all their houses decorated with
lights and Christmas motifs. This is the case
of Franklin Street, in the center of
Auckland. In many other parts of the cities
there are houses and other areas with
Christmas lights, which are quite
interesting to see. You can find information
in the local newspaper in your area. The
native nature offers its particular
contribution to Christmas decoration in
New Zealand, with its famous tree with red
flowers, the so-called Pohutukawa tree.
The Pohutukawa, whose scientific name is
Metrosideros excelsa, is an evergreen tree
of the myrtle family, which produces a set
of shiny flowers composed of sets of
stamens.
It blooms from November to January with
a peak in the middle of late December
(the southern hemisphere summer), with
brilliant crimson flowers covering the
tree, hence the nickname "New Zealand
Christmas Tree".
Being in the summer period,
Christmas food in New Zealand is
very different from that of countries
that celebrate it in winter, with snow.
There is no hot soup here, but there
are barbecues everywhere.
Something very typical of Christmas
in New Zealand is the glazed ham
that you will find in every 'kiwi'
house and that you can see in
supermarkets, garnished with
pineapple and red cherries. For
dessert, the typical fruit and raisin
pudding.
In New Zealand, on December 26,
Boxing Day is celebrated. A kind of
sales day in which stores and
shopping centers are simultaneously
in a real traffic of people. Those who
are going to return gifts and those
who are going to look for an offer.
Most of the products usually have a
good discount.
In New Zealand, they are always the
first to say goodbye to the year and
most already celebrate it on
vacation, on the beach, with family
and/or friends.
Most of the recreational and leisure
activities in New Zealand at
Christmas are related to the sea,
lakes and river. Many of us go to our
vacation home (bach) which is
usually on the beach, from there, go
to the beach to surf, kite surf. We can
also go out with the boat to fish and
then if you catch something, put it on
the barbecue (BBQ) at night. Some
go camping with tents or caravans
(campervans or motorhomes).