Thursday, 24 December Christmas Eve

I don't know if it's NZ or the economic hardship but Whangarei town has almost no Christmas decorations and not all shops are playing carols. People aren't attacking the shops in a last minute frenzy of panic buying. In fact it doesn't feel much like Christmas. Back in England they are struggling with snow and Arctic lows.

Time for our last minute shopping; the filter shop for oil filters for the engine. David wasn't sure if the make they had in stock was the right size for our Volvo engine so they generously, and trusting, said take it, see if it fits and then come back and pay when we open after Christmas. They were about to close for the employee barbecue. Kiwis are universally helpful. We were on our bikes today so we nipped back to try the filter. Perfect fit, so we nipped back to the shop and bought 4. And they gave us discount and invited us to have a sausage from the barbecue. Very friendly people.

Around the corner we visited the Raymarine dealership for guidance on how to fix our broken system. They too were closing early, but had time to talk and offered to lend us their GPS test unit over the holidays to try to eliminate the Raystar GPS finder as our potential fault. They weren't going to open again until in the New Year and we'll have left before then. “No problem. Leave the unit with the manager at the marina and we'll pick it up from him.'” When people offer you their trust you can only repay with the same trust. It really is a refreshing attitude and part of the reason why we find NZ so appealing.

Dressed for dinner

Our Christmas Eve special treat was a meal at a local hotel with a group of our friends. Dignity have a car and were able to give us a lift. At the hotel we had a long table for the Sea Misters, Emily Grace (we spent last Christmas Eve with them in Cartagena), Leu Cat, True Companions and Boree Boree. The food was very good and service friendly.

Christmas Eve dinner

When we got back to the marina Dignity invited aboard for a night cap. They're a catamaran and side on to the dock which means a long stride from the dock onto their swim platform. Unfortunately for Helen it was a step too far, she lost her balance between dock and deck and gracefully slipped into the murky water. The newest member of the Whangerei Swimming club took it all in her stride and came up laughing. David leapt to her rescue and pulled her aboard and then gave me a helping hand so I didn't go the same way.