November 1st

Wendy: How to celebrate holidays in a foreign land? With friends, of course! Steve and I chose not to kayak, so we took a hike up the Arahura river to look at some of the difficult rapids. Andy went to kayak the Lower Kakapotahi with Louie, Peter, and Chris. The Arahura is a class 5 run, which is way above my level. The book said it would be a 4 kilometer hike up to the class 5 cesspool, but 2.5 hours into the hike we still had yet to get to the big rapids. We did slog through much mud, and cross many bubbling creeks. We got to a narrow swing bridge, and Steve got about 2/3rds of the way across before I started. I got a little ways across, and something told me to stop and let Steve finish before continuing. Lucky I did, too, because on the other side was a sign that said "maximum 1 person on bridge at a time"! There was no sign on the side we started on, and judging by the shaky nature of this bridge, it needed one.

After the hike, we went into town to buy food for our Christmas eve party. I had agreed earlier in the week to make dinner for the gang. Everyone in Hokitika was in the market, so it was an obstacle course to find a ham and all the trimmings. Did you know the cranberry sauce is shelved next to the tomato sauce (catsup) and spaghetti sauce in New Zealand? I suppose they consider them all sauces, but it took me quite a long time to figure that one out! I also learned that kiwi kids leave Santa beer on Christmas eve. This was taught to me by a little boy in the market, who screamed out "Mama, we can't leave until we buy Santa his malt beer!" I asked mama about this, and she informed me that Santa likes to get hammered before dealing with the gifts. My family was so naive, leaving cookies and milk. Ahhh, Americans.

Next step was to prepare the dinner in kiwi Chris's kitchen....remember this is a kayak bum kitchen, meaning there is 1 knife, 4 forks, 5 plates, and NO serving dishes! A quick trip to the second hand store equipped us with a corning ware serving dish, and a gravy bowl; most of the meal was served out of pots and pans.

Chris and Louie came home with a Christmas branch, aka a Christmas tree. They got off the river and went into the forest in search of a tree. They found an appropriate branch, and were sawing it off with their kayaking knives when a forest service ranger drove by. They nonchalantly picked up a map and pretended to read it until he had gone on his way, and then continued with the cutting. Why two men would be reading a map in the middle of the forest next to a partially sawed branch is beyond me, but it worked. Their beautiful prize is pictured below...a few decorations later and voila! We have a Christmas tree!

The last stage of our Christmas eve was going to the local church for what was billed in the newspaper as "Christmas Carols." We finished dinner and had some wine, and were in fine spirits for a little 11:30 PM Christmas caroling. Little did we know we were getting sucked into the midnight mass...they sucker you in by advertising the music, and then once you are seated you're stuck because you don't want to be rude by walking out. Obviously this is something locals know, but tourists do not. The highlight was when the host from Kapatea lodge (place we stayed at earlier in the week) approached Andy and Chris and asked them to be his "guests at the alter" during communion. Andy had no idea what that meant, and sweetly agreed to go...little did he know that they were serving communion. He had no idea what to do, but he followed along quite nicely, and then came back to our pew with a look of fear, asking us "am I going to get in trouble doing that?" To be Jewish in a Christian church is like being in a foreign land.

Christmas Eve dinner spread - stuffing, peas, salad, cranberry sauce, and HAM! (sorry, no turkeys down here in NZ)

Wendy and the boys enjoying the food. Notice the "college dorm" furnishings (or lack thereof). This is most definitely a kayak crash pad!

Chris standing proudly by his Christmas brach (cut down by him personally at the river take-out)

The boys doing the dishes! (Louie, Peter, Steve, and Jeff)

Stealth Christmas mass photo!

December 24th - Lower Kakapotahi River and Christmas Eve Dinner