Christmas Day - Thursday Dec 25, 2008

This morning we allowed ourselves to sleep in a bit as we had a very unstructured first part of the day. After getting up and dressed, we opened our one Christmas Present – from Sandra – thanks for the great book! Then we started counting our blessings, really appreciating this trip, our ability to make it, and the many gifts our friends and families have given to our favourite charities in our name.
Then we were off exploring Wellington. We heard that there is a great Botanic Garden that is open to the public (no charge) even on Christmas Day – so we spent about 2 hours really enjoying the wide variety of plant life in the Garden. The view looking over the city was fabulous. The gardens contain every kind of plant, from the familiar to the exotic.
Then we were off to the Quay where we walked along the water’s edge and enjoyed the salt air, the brisk temperatures, more sights, and of course very friendly people.
Next stop – after coffee – was back to the hotel to download yesterday’s blog, and check on a few emails including those from home – informing us of all the snow that we are missing.
Christmas dinner was at the home of Megan and her partner Dan. Megan is the daughter of Nadine, Harry’s niece. We started with a toast with a glass of Champagne (Moet) that Megan had received from her employer the day before, then proceeded with a lovely dinner of Lamb, vegetables, and Pumpkin Pie. All in all a lovely Christmas dinner – lots of fun!
Now we will be up early in the morning to head back to Auckland and from there back to Australia!