- a special time of the year  (PART 1)

A time when kids get excited by an old man in red they know as Santa. The festive season is a cause for much celebration, right through to Christmas Day itself .....

Posing with Santa. "This is what I'd like, Santa."      Filling an empty Christmas stocking. Christmas display at Kirkcaldie & Stains   department store in Wellington   (in an earlier year).

A time when we decorate the trees and the kids dress up .....

Decorating the tree in early December. The decorated tree with presents accruing (a different year).      Christmas Theme Day at the   local primary school. Christmas Theme Day.

A time when we listen to Christmas music, sing carols and take the kids to the Santa parade .....

Singing carols as part of the   Christmas pageant at church. Signs announcing community carol singing and other Christmas events in Tawa. [Click on pic to see various signs].      Part of the Christmas parade in   Tawa heading into the year 2000. The high point of the local parade.

For pics of Christmas parades in Tawa, click here.

A time to turn on the Christmas lights
  (bearing in mind that in this part of the world it gets dark after 9pm in December!)

My place (of course!).   Christmas lights in Tawa - click on this pic to see lights on a number of local houses (on a different page).      Christmas lights on a house in Lower Hutt.   A photo of this one appeared on the front   page of the newspaper. A different Lower Hutt street.

Click here to join us on the second part of our trip .....