The concert was on December 30 and we decided that if we were going, we might as well make a weekend of it and stay for the New Year’s Eve celebrations. That was a mistake. While we had a fine dinner at the hotel–roast lamb with delicious fixings–the planned evening of entertainment was a bust.
As I have mentioned, it is summer here and all of the kids are out of school. Apparently, they all headed to Wanaka. It was like Ocean City, with teenagers and college kids roaming the down town streets, girls giggling and screaming, and boys emitting massive amounts of testosterone. It was just another round of kids partying to excess. We got out of there and went back to the hotel to watch the fireworks from lakeside. It was a nice display.
On January 1, 2024, we said goodbye to Wanaka. I missed my cats and needed to be home.
We love Fat Freddy’s Drop, a New Zealand band. They never tour the U.S. and we went to great lengths to see them live in Europe. (go to https://marshaschmidt.com/2022/12/06/july-9-19-europe-fat-freddy/ to read the story). We assumed that if we were living in New Zealand we would have more opportunities to see them. But that has not been the case so far. So when we received an announcement that they would be playing the Rhythm & Alps Festival on the South Island, we decided, well why not? This music festival, a three-day extravaganza of music, camping and partying takes place in a grazing field outside of Wanaka, a picturesque resort town bordering Lake Wanaka in the Southern Alps. Wanaka is known for skiing in winter and summers on the lake.
Lake Wanaka – yeah, it is kind of beautiful
The music festival was okay. There were several stages, the main stage, a DJ stage and others dedicated to smaller acts. Rather than sitting in the field all day, we bought seats in a tent near the main stage so Matt would have a place to sit, and we would be out of the brutal Southern sun. FFD was the headliner, so we had to wait for five bands to play before they came on. That was painful. We did discover one band we really liked. But the other four? Yikes! One was a New Zealand woman who apparently has hit it big in Nashville. No clue who she is but people seemed excited.
One of the bands, My Baby, was really good so I walked down into the crowd toward the stage to get a closer look and feel.
My Baby – awesome power trio
I stopped and focused on the band. I was swaying and clapping as she sang a blues song when I noticed out of the corner of my eye a few yards in front of me a young man, maybe in his early 20’s, facing me and dancing with his beer and making gestures like, “great band, huh?” I realized that he was trying to engage with me. I was not interested in engaging with him and his beer. I stepped out of his view. He was not deterred. He stepped into my field of view again gesturing. I stepped farther to the side. Then his girlfriend stood next to me and started dancing and smiling at me as if I was dancing with her. I most assuredly was not. I had the normal East Coast reaction to someone getting in my space. I was ticked off and ready to snap, “I’m trying to watch here!” But I refrained. As I did with him, I stepped away from her, but unable to take a hint, she followed. I started to wonder if they thought “hey, look at the grandma getting down at the festival.” As soon as I thought it, her boyfriend starting recording with his phone. Yes, he was going to record his girlfriend dancing with the old lady at the festival. Generation to generation we can all enjoy peace and love and music and all that crap. I ignored both of them as best I could. To say I was irritated is not saying enough. I finally had to walk away unable to enjoy the moment with My Baby. I am sure a video of me ignoring this girl is floating around somewhere on social media.
And that my friends is the problem with festivals. The music is secondary to socializing and drinking. If you are there to actually hear the music, you have a problem because your experience is going to be impacted by everyone who is only there for the party. And yes, I know I used to be one of those young folks there for the party. But after decades of festivals, I find it tedious now. Been there and done that. I loved seeing Fat Freddy’s Drop, but I think I am going to skip the festival circuit from now on. Matt’s prediction is that this will hold until they play another festival. It will be tedious, but I will go.
It is finally, finally truly summer here. The skies are clear, the weather fine. It is like the Pennsylvania summers from my youth when a hot day was 85 degrees and the nights were cool enough for a sweatshirt. Great day for boogie boarding!
On Christmas, we would normally stay in our pajamas and watch movies. That works for winter but for summer, we could not sustain it. We went to the beach even though it was an overcast day and I made pierogis for dinner. I have not made them in years. They are not summer food, but I wanted them and they are not really something you can find in the grocery store here.
Tree decorated with pohutukawa flowers. Matt in his Christmas shirt.
I kept reading about a tree known as the New Zealand Christmas tree. The Pohutukawa blooms with deep red flowers beginning in December. The flowers shine with golden pollen laden tips. These trees are native and protected. If you cut one down, you will be facing a heavy fine. They are stunning in person.
These trees are native and protected. If you cut one down, you will be facing a heavy fine.
I thought for sure that I would be able to purchase an artificial Pohutukawa tree as a Christmas decoration. I was wrong. So I bought some artificial Pohutukawa blooms and used them to decorate my artificial pine tree. It looked pretty cool.
It is summer here in the Land of the Long Cloud. That means kids are out of school, and it is vacation time. And, oh yes, it is also Christmas and New Year’s. Events that the Northern hemisphere spreads out over the year are compressed into two months and, during the two weeks of Christmas, the country shuts down. Take a vacation folks, it is mandatory.
The school year ends in December and starts up again in February. Because of this overlap with the holidays, the Kiwis had to pick—Christmas or vacation. Vacation won out. Families spend time focused on summer vacation with the beach, barbecuing and all of the fun that comes with summer—swimming, biking, and generally goofing off.
The result is that Christmas seems almost like an afterthought. In the U.S. we go all out—lights, trees, blow up snowmen and lighted deer. Enter into the Kiwi equivalent of Home Depot here and you will not find a section full of Christmas decorations. There are Christmas lights for sale, sure, but they are limited to a few shelves. There needs to be room for barbecue grills, outdoor furniture, fire pits and patio umbrellas.
We did not ship our Christmas stuff, the artificial tree and bulbs and assorted trimmings and decorations based on the assumption we could buy it here. We were stunned to learn that finding these baubles was difficult. In the U.S. every store has a Christmas section with tree decorations, wrapping paper, cards and the like. Christmas tree sellers abound. Not here. Here, most department stores had little or no Christmas goods for purchase. We thought we would at least get a fake tree. That was not easy. I had to order it over the internet. I think I saw one place where real Christmas trees were for sale. Nor did we see houses lit up like the Las Vegas Strip. In fact, you are more likely to see outdoor trampolines than Christmas decoartions. (These people are really into trampolines.)
In the U.S, you go into any hotel, restaurant or store and Christmas is everywhere. Here, most shops and commercial establishments were not decorated at all. During the holidays we went on a trip. The hotel we stayed at had one forlorn looking fake tree stuffed in a corner with no decorations on it.
When it comes to food, the Northern Hemisphere is experiencing winter. Food is warm and comforting. Here, the Christmas food is cherries and strawberries. More than one person told me their fondest memories are of cherries on Christmas morning. We have indulged in that tradition in spades. We have been eating cherries and strawberries for the past two months. The Christmas dessert is pavlova with a fresh fruit mix of strawberries, blueberries and cherries. I am not into pavlova. We go with a chocolate dip. And barbecue. Did I mention barbecue?
This is not to say they don’t celebrate Christmas. They do to some extent. It is just that all of the commercialism, all of the excess is not here. Barbecues and the beach are far more important at this time of year and their Christmas memories are wrapped up in summer and vacations. The country helps when most employers require their employees to take off Christmas and New Year’s week, meaning the country more or less shuts down. Matt was required to take time off. We could get nothing done with most companies during the two week holiday. Even the government shuts down.
Here in Te Horo Beach, all of the vacationers showed up for the two weeks. The beach, normally populated by about six people, was a lot busier, with cars and trucks, and folks fishing and swimming. I was kind of annoyed that people were on my beach, but most left after the holidays.
I guess you could say that one way to take the commercialism out of Christmas is to be presented with something else more fun and interesting. If you had a choice between Christmas trees and lights and barbecuing and vacation, which would you choose? To be sure, Christmas lights and decorations help when the weather is cold and dismal. And it is nice to spread out the events of a year rather than forcing everything into a two-month period. Still the lack of excess was refreshing to say the least. And the Kiwis did not seem to mind at all.
A Yank Among the Kiwis 