53.-55.Tag - Christmas with the Kiwi's

Saturday morning starts as expected, quite stressful, as there are still some things to be done for the sale at the weekly market in Amberley. We simply divide the work among all of us and soon we stand behind our vegetables, trying our hand at English small talk. Although we do our best, the Kiwi's dialect doesn't go unnoticed, and thus the basis for conversation is already established. With the first sold zucchinis, we start to enjoy the whole thing.

With almost empty baskets, we then drive to the beach, which on this day doesn't invite for swimming, as a strong storm prevents any attempt to get into the water. At least Bruce gets a cool down and a wash at the same time.

We start Christmas day, being a Sunday, with waffles to keep our local traditions. As the day seems to get hotter, we finish work a bit earlier to go to the beach again after the Christmas pizza rolls. This time Ian and Frances join us and together we chase Bruce up and down. The weather suddenly seems to want to play a trick on us again today, as unusual patches of fog roll in from the ocean.

But we are not immediately discouraged by that and decide to wait and see. A little patience definitely pays off in New Zealand!

Christmas Eve turns into a barbecue celebration with homemade burgers and everything else! We end the day with our woofing colleagues in a fun game of table tennis.

We use Monday, the actual Christmas day, to finally try out the surfboard from the cellar. Admittedly, the waves and the currents are a bit too much for the first time, but our professional children's board seems to be in stable condition. We have fun in the cool water, but Bruce also likes it and tries to get our attention by trying to knock us off the board. This leaves a lasting impression (on our skin) ;)

We spend the evening with our neighbors, who spontaneously invite the four strangers to their Christmas barbecue. Not that it's already hard enough to understand Kiwi English, the braces in the mouth during the group game don't make it any easier. It's still fun and we will definitely remember some vocabulary and (with the abundant food) grams.

On Thursday, we open the next chapter of our journey and head towards Queenstown and the surrounding areas, the tourist hotspot of the South Island.