New Zealand: where the pohutukawa lights up the skyline with its brilliant red flowers
Christmas around the world; Take a trip to nine countries to see how they celebrate
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a pukeko in a ponga tree. Huh? While English is the official language, New Zealand is renowned for having a vocabulary all of its own. In the above local folk version of the traditional Christmas song, a pukeko is a native swamp hen, and ponga the tree fern that blankets the New Zealand landscape. On the second day of Christmas, according to the vernacular, you'll get two kumara (sweet potatoes), on the third day three flax kits (Maori craft), the fourth four huhu grubs (a large local beetle), and so on. Christmas in New Zealand starts, like most places, in November, but according to one family of English immigrants, it's not as commercialised as it is in Britain.
'They must love Christmas though, because they celebrate it twice,' says the family on their web log. Arriving mid-year, the newcomers could not understand why the restaurants and shops were decorated for Christmas. They soon found out that it was a mid-winter Christmas, celebrated in June with all the trimmings. Other quaintly kiwi traditions the family noted were the eclectic festive meal - 'glazed ham, turkey and fish, with salads, coleslaw and roasted potatoes, kumara, pumpkin, carrots, onions, garlic and seasoning, chopped into chunks and just thrown into the oven and all with gravy' - followed by pavlova with kiwi fruit for dessert. New Zealanders 'don't seem to share the same passion for sending Christmas cards', they found, advising readers not to be disappointed if they send out Christmas cards to everyone at work, and receive none in return.
The benefits are 'great work parties', and shopping malls that provide 'a fabulous service' including gift wrapping. Local Cara Mygind says that barbecues are increasingly replacing the traditional hot dinner at Christmas, with lamb or seafood featured on the grill. 'We have lots of family meals, where the focus is on food and wine,' she says. Free concerts are provided by councils in the key cities of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and these can be held anytime from November onwards. Carols will be sung, and Santa Claus will visit.
New Zealanders even have their own Christmas tree - the pohutukawa, a coastal evergreen that each December lights up the skyline with a brilliant display of red flowers. One gardening writer notes that the tree's red and green festive colours are 'the best example I have seen in the plant kingdom'.
Once Christmas Day is done and dusted, New Zealanders pack up the leftovers and head to a holiday bach (pronounced batch), a coastal abode that is an iconic part of the national culture. Originally these were modest shacks, but now they can be 'quite posh', some winning architectural awards.