I have only ever experienced Christmas in the sun on one previous occasion - that was when I was in Barbados when I worked on the QE2, having cocktails and beer on the foc'sle of that famous old ship before heading off on the mandatory run ashore.
But this year is different. We have moved as far away from Britain as is physically possible (bar a move to the Antarctic, but we didn't fancy that!) and the seasons are a complete reversal of what we are used to. And don't believe what people tell you about the NZ weather being the same or similar to Britain, in our experience they are talking out of their orifice - it is hot, a lot hotter than Britain gets, and it says something about the sunshine hours that I am sitting indoors on yet another sunny day hiding from the sun writing this blog entry! It is touching 32 degrees outside yet again, and I even had to sit in the spa pool to cool off, and that is set to 37 degrees! The kids have gone to their friends and are probably splashing round in the pool as I type - we are invited over later on for new year drinkies, again, a huge difference to freezing your bits off in wintertime Britain.
Don't misunderstand me, I am not slagging Britain off, just highlighting the differences we are experiencing this year. We went to the beach at Mount Maunganui with some friends on Xmas day, had a picnic and ice creams then went back to their house for a BBQ that evening, our 1st Kiwi Christmas. Different - you bet...... just look at the picture of Kieran and Stephen (one of his friends) walking out in to the Pacific surf!
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