Wellington at Mt. Victoria.

Everybody says Wellington (called Welly by their inhabitants) is the nicest city in New Zealand. Therefore I decided to spend Christmas here in one if the wooden houses sprinkled all over the city and it’s surrounding hills.

Christmas shopping in Wellington somehow reminds me of home. I guess nearly everybody gets a book as a present.

Guess what, I found the female counterpart to the Berlin Ampelmännchen here. Really a nice place to live, if it wouldn’t be so far from home.

And the weird part, summer conditions make the botanical garden blossom during Christmas.

I have to say everybody is right about Welly regarding the atmosphere that is a mixture of an international vibe, cafe and beer bar scene freshed up with a sea breeze. I especially enjoyed strolling along the quay, eating ice creme and listening to Christmas carols played by a rock band at the city beach. For everybody who is a little more into culture, all the museums in the city are free (I spent one hour in the city gallery, only because I already got quite a sunburn).

First homemade ice creme in what? 6 months?

Christmas feeling at the city beach, must be warm under this hat.

Christmas on the other side of the world turned out to be quite different (the sad Christmas tree in the corner of the lounge should proof to be a first sign). The first thing I fell for was the actual day kiwis celebrate Christmas. Contrary to us Europeans the important day is the 25th of December. Meaning the 24th just turned out to be like every other day. On the 25th the inhabitants of my hostel hold a big Christmas party meaning everybody prepared a dish from their home country and the hostel owner provided a nice barbecue, just like a summer garden party at home spiced with some British people singing Christmas carols.

Everybody was asked to prepare something. I ended up with ‚Berliner Bouletten‘ (meat balls).

Decoration was a nice try, but the Christmas tree really made me feel a little sad.

Therefore the BBQ was great.

And the atmosphere really cheerful.

On the 27th I finally entered the ferry to the South Island of New Zealand in a beautiful sunny morning rewarding with gorgeous views of the sounds Wellington and Picton.

The sounds of Picton on a picture perfect day.