These women tell us how they celebrate somewhat differently to the rest of us
WORDS: STEPH CLARKSON. PHOTOS: ROB GRANGE, MARK BRYANT, NICKY JOHNSTON, GETTY
‘EVERYONE IS IN SHORTS AND SWIMWEAR’
Lisa Leport-Symonds, 46, emigrated to New Zealand from the UK 15 years ago with husband Phill. They live in Whanganui with Elise, 12, and Lola, 10. Elder daughter Nadine, 23, has moved back to the UK to study.
An Antipodean Christmas is all about being outdoors – and it occurs in the middle of our summer holidays. Kids finish school in the first week of December and don’t go back until February. And because we’re a country of small businesses, many bosses shut down for a month. Although we occasionally come back to the UK to visit relatives, New Zealand is home, so we celebrate Christmas Kiwi-style. We maintain British traditions like the Christmas tree, and we hang stockings and exchange gifts, but because it’s around 25 degrees and everyone’s in shorts and swimwear it feels very different.
Little things
Christmas light switch-ons are not a big thing because it doesn’t get dark until late, and while Christmas movies and the monarch’s speech are a fixture on TVs around the UK, here we never switch the telly on. We might enjoy croissants and Buck’s Fizz in the pool first thing, but we’d never eat a massive turkey roast because in the afternoon we usually head to the beach – and the last thing you want is a belly full of roast potatoes! You wouldn’t be able to get traditional veg like sprouts anyway, because you can only get vegetables that are in season, so at Christmas it’s all about salads. I keep trying to get our kids to look at a mince pie, but they just can’t get their heads around the idea.
The festive season here is about socialising and, just like back home, there’s a lot of travelling to see people dear to us. Although we can’t spend the time with our family in England, we have created a close circle here, so spend Christmas Day and Boxing Day with the children’s godparents or with close friends. We meet up, the hosts put meat or seafood on the barbecue and everybody takes a side dish. And a lot of alcohol is consumed too!
I’m a hot-weather person, so I don’t miss the British Christmas. In 2018, when we last went back, it was so cold the kids didn’t know what had hit them. But I do worry they’re missing out on family time, so this year we’re planning to head back to the UK. But I’m sure we will bring a b
