First Xmas Down Under

Got back yesterday from our holiday down South. Despite the fact that I missed having a white Christmas, I gotta say that Christchurch and Queenstown were spectacular. Christchurch and Adelaide were planned by the same person, but Christchurch is much more pedestrian and tourist friendly, as well as asthetically pleasing. We actually went to midnight mass at Christchurch Cathedral just to make the holiday seem a bit more festive, as they had carols for about an hour before the service. I thought it was an interesting mix to have the city's Christmas tree right on the church grounds, and no nativity scene in sight. Go New Zealand! Steve had gone to Christchurch for work the week before and when I asked him about the Christmas decorations, he pretty much shrugged his shoulders. I was disappointedly thinking things would be as bleak as Auckland, but his lack of description was due to the fact that he wanted to surprise me;)

Queenstown, although having beautiful scenery, has unfortunately been spoiled by the saturation of tourism there. It is the only place in New Zealand where there is late night shopping and shops open on public holidays such as New Year's day. In my opinion, New Zealand as a country has absolutely prostituted itself for the sake of tourists, although I have to admit they have created quite a brand as the place for adventure tourism. Steve paid a ridiculous amount of mind to jump off a cliff, as do many of the younger tourists who go down to Queenstown (or Taupo, or Rotorua). It was wonderful, however, to benefit from the huge fireworks display New Year's Eve...although not so wonderful to find someone trapped under our car the next morning, still drunk, after falling backwards over the wall it was parked next to.