Posts

Showing posts from December, 2014

CHRISTMAS - 2000 YEARS AGO, 200 YEARS AGO AND THIS YEAR - IN NEW ZEALAND

Image
We are spending Christmas in New Zealand again this year.  We are with the Auckland branch of our scattered family in the beautiful seaside town of Pauanui on the Coromandel Peninsula.  Spring was late this year in New Zealand.  As a result we have the joy of being surrounded by a forest of trees that grow beside the sea all around the northern part on New Zealand.  These trees are called pohutukawa and are affectionately referred to as the New Zealand Christmas tree . They are called this because they bear masses of flowers that are bright red with a yellow touch on the end of each bloom.  They make a stunning seasonal display every year but are usually over by mid December.  So this year being late they are beautifully covering the shores and slopes of the hills that drop down to the sea. We all know that Christmas is a time of giving which is almost a cliche now. Yet this year we have really seen this in a number of ways.  Our daughter, doing a big pre Christmas shop in an A