Christmas in Gisborne

On 24th December, we went shopping in the morning, wrapped presents, and helped with the preparations at the campsite for tomorrow. The city was incredibly crowded and it had been raining all morning. It wasn't going to stop today either. Around 4 pm, we had dinner at a very delicious New Zealand restaurant. Because we couldn't wait for the gift exchange anymore, we opened the presents right after in the car outside the restaurant.

The highlight, of course, were the packages from home with lots of Christmas treats, a bit of German literature, and an elf pajama that smells like home.

In the evening, most people prepared their meals for tomorrow and we sat together for a little while.

The next day started just as cloudy as Christmas Eve. Everyone was already in the kitchen early, Niklas baked vanilla crescents in the morning and Christmas music was playing. Slowly, a bit of Christmas atmosphere arose.

We started eating at 12. Everyone prepared something, from potato salad to a huge guacamole to cookies. Then, during the meal, the actual Christmas miracle happened: After 2 days completely rainy and cloudy, the sun finally came out.

Afterwards, the Secret Santa gifts were distributed. Two days earlier, everyone put their name in a hat and drew someone else's name. For $10, everyone brought a small gift. Then, we were so hot that we had a water balloon fight and went straight to the beach. We ended the evening at the campsite.

Christmas without family is obviously not the same, but it was still very nice!