Remembered Place: Christmas in Kiwi Land

Blogger: Michelle Ule

Location: Books & Such main office, Santa Rosa, Calif.

After my father’s death in 2002, we honored my parents’ memory by spending inheritance money on a family trip. My husband longed to visit Middle Earth, so once the college kids got out of school in December, we packed up and headed to New Zealand.

We camped in an RV and traveled from Auckland on the north island all the way to Milford Sound on the south island. We reveled in a land of rock-floating lakes, geysers, straight-as-arrow planted forests, dolphin-friendly swims and the hint of hobbits at every turn. (We were there for the release of The Two Towers, but that’s another story).

Arriving the week before Christmas, we enjoyed not being inundated with ads for Christmas events. We saw Christmas lights decorating houses in only a few locations. Stores didn’t seem too concerned with the holiday, and we saw few mentions of Father Christmas or even toys for children. We liked it.

Christmas Eve found us at a bridge watching folks in Father Christmas hats bungee jumping. One woman had to be pushed off but came up screaming in ecstasy. I later saw her in a Queenstown church, no doubt thanking God she survived!

We had dinner that night in the only restaurant open: the Queenstown Hard Rock Cafe.  As we ate hamburgers and listened to a group of drunken kimono-clad Japanese businessmen sing, we felt very far from home.

That night most of us slept on a yacht owned by Winston Churchhill during World War II . Early Christmas morning we took a short cruise along Lake Wakatipu with our personal Commander (my former submarine commander husband) giving the yacht owner tips on craft. We exchanged presents–Kiwi items small enough to fit in our stockings brought from home.

Still not feeling very Christmasy, we finally found what we needed: the 10 o’clock service at St. Peter’s Church in downtown Queenstown.

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the back row of the standing-room-only crowd, we sang Christmas carols with gusto, delighting in the clever differences in songs from down under. Here are the first two verses of  “An Upside-down Christmas:”

Carol our Christmas, an upside down Christmas;
The snow is not falling and trees are not bare.
Carol the summer, and welcome the Christ Child,
Warm in our sunshine and sweetness of air.

Sing of the gold and the green and the sparkle,
Water and river and lure of the beach.
Sing in the happiness of open spaces,
Sing a nativity summer can reach!

Following the service in The Book of Common Prayer, we relaxed into a liturgical worship service we well knew. Communion felt comforting and holy among the people of Otago Shire. The Christ-child is the same down under.

The service finished with happy New Zealand carols.  “The Southern Cross Looks Down,” (sung to the tune of “O, Little Town of Bethlehem”) made us laugh:

O little town of Bethlehem,
the Southern Cross looks down,
As once a star shone bright and clear
above an Eastern town,

The hearts of Bethlehem are cold,
the streets are hushed with snow,
The doors are locked, there is no room,
dear Lord, where will you go?

Oh, come sweet Jesus, come to us,
New Zealand’s shores are warm,
And here are loving hearts enough
To shield you from the storm.

Come we will give you all we have,
Each bird and flower and tree
The breeze that stirs the mountain tops
The music of the sea.

Our family loved New Zealand, a land filled with happy people and stunning scenery. We would love to visit again, but that trip convinced us we would rather be home on Christmas.