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   It doesn't matter how many times you hear Christmas music on the radio or how many decorations you put up around the house; if you're used to living in the Northeastern part of the United State this time of year, it just doesn't feel like the holidays when you're wrapping presents in your shorts and the sun doesn't set until 10PM. Having the summer months in December, February, and March is fantastic, but around Christmas I just couldn't help but be a little jealous of the snowstorm hitting the state of New York. After the fact, give me a margarita and let's hit the beach. During Christmas though, Bing Crosby's "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" suddenly fit the tone perfectly...
   The Christmas trees, or rather the pine trees, are somewhat unusual here. The branches on the end actually curl up. Nobody uses Christmas Tree stands here either. Just grab a bucket, throw some rocks in for support, and shove your tree straight down into it. Water and decorate. I suppose someone could make a killing importing tree stands from the US.
   Our tree wasn't anything to brag about--it had one ornament--but Jeannine successfully made a few strings of popcorn for garland and we got by with some ribbons. The lights (or "fairy lights" as they're called here) were capped off with a large ribbon conveniently sent by J's mom.
   One other Christmas tradition lacking here is the use of decoration outside the house. Nobody puts lights up around here. If you do, it's considered a spectacle and people will literally line their cars up to see what you've done to your house. Several times, we were asked if we wanted to go see the "homes with Christmas decorations up on the outside" and several times we had to explain that this is a rather common occurrence back home. Just one more difference....
   On Christmas Day, our friend Denise (initially from Canada) came down to visit. We started the morning off with opening presents and then heading down to the beach for a Champagne breakfast. Besides the sand flying into our food, it was a gorgeous morning and quite a different way to spend the holiday. We then headed over to our neighbors house for dinner at around 1pm and proceeded to gorge ourselves on Turkey and New Zealand Cuisine.
   Our feast complete, we simply relaxed the rest of the day and got ready for our trip to Nelson. That update will follow soon as it will be quite large and we have much to tell. Till then, Happy New Year and enjoy the pictures below.

 Photos:

...and I helped....	Jeannine putting the popcorn on the tree...	Finally, it's done! Quickest Christmas tree decorating ever!	The finished product--with presents--and a little out of focus.
Jeannine is pretty excited about her stocking!	Nothing like breakfast at Christmas on the beach!	Just another regular Christmas Day...	A courageous attempt at re-creating Julebug's famous egg rolls.
Christmas Day in Dunedin.	Christmas Dinner with the Line Family...	A palette of colors for Christmas Day sunset...	Pretty amazing views at the top of Memorial Hill overlooking the city.
Pretty cool photo of the three of us outlined on the sunset..	Jeannine and Denise (it's sad, but no one can explain why she glows like that.)	Jeannine and I at sunset.	Sunset creaping in on the harbor...