It always rains at Christmas in Auckland (New Zealand Part 8)

On our way to the northern part of the North Island, we made a stopover in Auckland.

On December 24th, we arrived at noon and drove to the supermarket to replenish our supplies. Since December 25th seems to be the only day in New Zealand when everything is really closed, all Auckland residents had the same idea...

So we pushed our way through the completely crowded supermarket, after we had found a parking space quite quickly, where we could stand without obstructing the traffic.

It was raining continuously, but we didn't want to stay at the campsite all day. We still wanted to buy the necessary chemicals for our toilet, which according to the car rental company should be available in every supermarket. Most of the time, the employees didn't even know what we were actually looking for, so our odyssey didn't end until we arrived completely soaked in a hardware store, where at least the second saleswoman not only knew what we were looking for, but also where to find it.

In order not to limit our activity on Christmas Eve to the search for toilet chemicals, we drove into the city center to find a restaurant for dinner.

Afterwards we had a cocktail - when else do you have the opportunity to do that in warm temperatures on Christmas?

A short walk along the harbor, where we were looking for suitable places to watch the fireworks on New Year's Eve, concluded the evening in the city.

The next morning we went back to the Baptist church in Avondale for the Christmas service. There was no church service here on December 24th, only on Christmas morning.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door in the parking lot and gave us four bags of rolls with a "Merry Christmas".

Used to coming early in Germany to secure the best seats, we were a bit early - and saw only one other visitor besides us. The church filled up only with the scheduled starting time, so the service started a bit later.

After being invited to a Christmas dinner by a family on our last visit, we received a spontaneous invitation after the church service, which unfortunately we had to decline.

New Zealand Christmas tree

So we drove to our friendly hosts' home, where we grilled for the first time in our lives on Christmas.

Although it wasn't cold, it was raining almost continuously, so we didn't sit outside. Our hosts explained to us that unfortunately Christmas is rainy every year.

Overall, it was a colorful mix of guests from India, South Africa, and Russia.

Of course, we also tried the different desserts, including the "Pavlova", which was presented to us as typical New Zealand. It is a meringue with lots of cream and fruit.

With some travel tips and full stomachs, we set off north in the afternoon.