Santa comes to town!

Christmas time brings many traditions – decorating trees and tucking presies underneath them, setting up stockings by the fireplace and singing carols. And while we have traded scarves for sunglasses, and donned jandals instead of boots, no holiday is complete without a visit from the big man in red himself. And so, this is how we found ourselves amongst hundreds of kids and families on Wednesday evening in Waitangi Park – Wellington’s central park – singing carols and dancing the evening away to Christmas tunes.

 

The crowd gathering in Waitangi Park

I felt like a kid again, surrounded by all the youngsters belting their hearts out. There was a live band, treats galore, and a headbanging donkey mascot (…not entirely sure what he had to do with Christmas but he was the most entertaining of them all).

This is the Christmas tree which lights up every night. You can donate to the Children's Wish Foundation and select a colour sequence and they'll display it for you. They also have giant bean bag chairs under the tree so you can enjoy the view all evening long!

Kids lining up at the phone booth to call Santa

Then, in the middle of Feliz Navidad santa appeared waving from a red helicopter which circled the applauding crowd a few times before settling down to let him hop up on stage. The kids went wild (and the donkey went nuts). It was amazing (and the donkey was hilarious)! It still doesn’t feel like Christmas all that much but it was certainly entertaining, and a great way to spend an evening.

Feliz Navidad to one and all!

 

Santa's here (and the crowd goes wild!)

 

Santa (and his donkey) welcome the applause

 

Christmas time by the bay.

 

I didn't know the Griswolds moved to New Zealand!