Christmas here was really magical. It was the first hot Christmas for both of us, and we did it right! On the 22nd, we picked Secret Santa names, and on the 23rd we hied-thee-hence to Christchurch to pick presents. Christchurch malls at Christmas are not different then American malls at Christmas, unfortunately. As a sidenote, I had my first foreign McDonalds- mostly because I was hoping it'd be better, since all meet in NZ is grassfed. Alas, it was not.
When we got back, I picked grapeleaves and made-- stuffed grapeleaves! It's a family recipe and this was my first time doing it alone. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted, but it was pretty good, and next time will be better.
The next morning Kara and I drove off to church. We went to the adorable little Catholic Church in Akaroa. We got there early since that's what you do on Christmas, but we didn't need to- it wasn't very full, since the town is so small and they'd had a mass the night before. Because there are so few kids in the congregation, the adults put on the Christmas play! It was ADORABLE.
Boxing day was very relaxed! In the morning, I made PANCAKES! John had mentioned that he wanted really fluffy ones, but we were all pretty sure that that kind only comes from a box. I decided, though, to try an experiment and make one batch with yeast! Interestingly, the yeast made them more dense- but about half the folks liked the yeast ones better.
We saw SO MANY! There must have been a hundred at least in the Bay. Akaroa Bay is extremely long and we kept seeing small pods the whole length of it, from Duvauchelle to the ocean.
Next we're going to take two and a half weeks to travel! We're going to Lake Tekapo, Mt. Cook, Oamaru (where we'll meet Martin and Noemie for New Year's), Dunedin, the Catlins and Slope Point, Bluff, and finally Stewart Island to do the Rakiura Great Walk (OVERNIGHT HIKE. TWO NIGHTS. SAVE ME.) Then we'll get to Wanaka and please God find jobs!
A few bonus pictures: