As you're sitting roasting chestnuts on an open fire, after Jack Frost nipped your nose so it's red like Rudolf's, have you ever wondered what Christmas is like for people at the opposite side of the globe? Have you considered that when Santa comes to the southern hemisphere it's summer? In fact he would already have been to New Zealand wearing his shorts and jandles (flip-flops). We're a day ahead of the rest of the world in terms of time. So when you in the northern hemisphere are having Christmas, it's Boxing Day here and we're sunning ourselves on the beach. On Christmas day, Santa would have had his work cut out trying to figure out how to find places like Hokitika, Paraparaumu, Papatoetoe, (pronounced Papa-too-ee-too-ee) Whakapapa (pronounced Fukapapa) Putaruru and Otorohanga.

And there'll not have been milk and cookies left for the old rotund one, because nobody will have been home. New Zealanders aka Kiwis will be found at campgrounds and baches (cabins) by the beach. In fact Santa has been known to arrive by jet boat or helicopter to deliver the kiddies their toys and lollies (candy). Christmas is the summer holiday season for Kiwis when they disappear for a three to four week break to the sea or the mountains. Their tents and caravans decorated with tinsel, will give a vague indication that it's Christmas time.

Christmas Food

Forget about roast turkey with Martha Stewart's special stuffing. No mate, steak on the barbie and plenty of salads, that's the way we do it. Some will treat themselves to cold chicken or turkey with a touch of sand to add to the texture if they're camping on the beach. As for dessert, no Kiwi Christmas is complete without Pavlova, a dessert made of fluffy baked meringue filled with whipped cream and topped with berries. The Aussies like to lay claim to its origins, named for Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova who danced in Australia a long time ago, but Kiwis are adamant that Pavlova originated in New Zealand. If you're not into Pavlova, there's always the old stodgy Christmas fruitcake pudding, a throwback from British colonial times. A sixpence coin used to be put in it for the lucky recipient to find in his/her serving.

The Kiwi Christmas Tree

New Zealand has a spectacular native Christmas tree that shows off bright red blossoms in December. The Maoris call it Pohutukawa. Legend has it that when the Pohutukawa blooms before Christmas, we're in for a long, hot summer. We don't do blizzards and snow in December - so as the saying goes, we have “no worries, mate.”