View From Above

Thursday

Ro and Sherry spent most of the morning at the pool, then Mark relieved her so she could brave the crowds at the grocery store. Once Sherry was home, Mark walked to the stores along Maunganui Road to finish his Christmas shopping. Ro couldn't wait to open his one allotted Christmas Eve present (he had already snooped in our closet and knew which one to pick), so we caved in and let him open his gift from Teta & Pop before dinner: a really cool Pirates of the Caribbean toy and book set.

Who knew you could make a warhammer from paper towel rolls and an egg carton?

Hauling groceries for Christmas dinner

Sweet as!

Sherry made a delicious Christmas Eve dinner, with lamb chops, spinach casserole (with fresh fried onions - you can't get the canned ones here), and gnocchi. Our neighbors Mark and Sharon invited us over to their place to see the Dawn Princess leave port. They live in the penthouse, and we've always wanted to see their view. Lindy and Russel, our apartment managers, also joined us as we chatted over drinks and hors d'oeuvres. Ro really took to Sharon, who has a couple of grandsons his age, and she kept him entertained as we talked with Mark. Eventually our conversation fell to the USA, which he has visited several times. As Americans, we take it for granted, but for a foreigner coming there, "it's like everything you've ever seen in the movies coming to life."

Ro ate his weight in tortilla chips while the adults talked

Watching the Dawn Princess sail away

Sunset from the penthouse

Checking out Sharon's binoculars

Too late to put on a Christmas card

The news broadcast detailing Father Christmas' imminent visit had the desired effect on Ro, stoking his enthusiasm, but making it harder to get him to sleep. Once he was finally down, Sherry set about whisking egg whites for pavlova (her Thanksgiving one was storebought). While it was baking, we busied ourselves wrapping presents and sipping champagne, watching American Gangster on Sky TV for the umpteenth time. Based on Mark's highly unscientific calculations, Tauranga is the first city (>100K people) in the world to get a visit from Santa, as it's farther east than any of the bigger cities in NZ or Oceania.

God bless that woman