Rotorua does Christmas

One of the interesting things about moving somewhere new, is that there are always new and interesting traditions to investigate. As an Australian, moving somewhere like NZ, things are pretty much the same in most respects but there are subtle differences. One of the big ones I've been struggling with ever since I moved here is the weather. We've had one or two nice days, but really, generally speaking, the weather has been pretty wet and pretty cold. Since October we've had frosts, we've had torrential rain and flooding and only a few days before Christmas, it snowed on Mt Ruapehu to 400m! Now, I know that Hobart was cold by my standards, but even there, you'd know Christmas was approaching because it would start to warm up and you'd have those great sunny days where is was light until 10pm. Being light until 10pm isn't a problem in Rotorua either, it the warm bit I'm worried about and the week leading up to Christmas, with its torrential rain and cold mornings really didn't help. It just didn't feel like Christmas. They tell me it might start getting warmer in February but I'm not holding my breath.....

One of the other funny things I came across in Rotorua just before Christmas was Carols in the Park. My friends Lisa, Thomas and I were out one Friday night before Chrissie and noticed that everyone seemed to be heading for the lake front carrying blankets. When we investigated, we discovered the most hideous carols you have ever seen! Let's just say, Rotorua does bogan well. Luckily we got there just in time to see the star act of the show - the Funky Monkeys! Dudes in fluro orange and white trackies with massive hair and a ginormous dog with a brown tracksuit, gold chains and reindeer ears......