To Recap (part 2)

In which I talk about.... THE FAMILY CHRISTMAS™

Because frankly I can only talk about my toes and general health for so long before the urge to run screaming down the street and off the edge of the Wellington waterfront overtakes me, and most, possibly some of you wouldn't want that.

So yeah, this year Tamsyn and I got into an airplane and went up to Hamilton for the holiday festivities. It was Tamsyn's first year away from her parents over Christmas; bravely venturing north to the land of my youth with a safari hat and protective clothing. I of course was struck by the urge to tell her about every landmark and street the moment we landed, which mainly involved a litany of haunts that my chums and I had loitered in, engaging in mostly legal intoxicants and rolling dice with too many sides.

In one of those small world syndrome moments that are the hallmark of the kiwi experience, our taxi driver who cheerfully attempted to rip us off on the drive from the airport knew my youngest brother and used to drive him home from the pubs all the time.

Something that struck me going up to Hamilton this time was the difference in style demographics. I managed to see one hipster the entire time I was up there. Just one! There are more than that in Palmerston North, a town named the most boring place on Earth by John Cleese! He was a teenaged, spotty creature, dressed in the appropriate garb and shuffling along behind his parents. More of a proto-hipster really, yet to hatch properly but on the right track. But otherwise it was a bit of a shock seeing the default uniform of polo shirts, singlets and shorts. Certainly there was a profusion of popped collars. The only real contrast to this was a healthy dollop of bogans, resplendent in their plumage of black, heavy metal tee shirts, ripped jeans and mullets. Glorious.

Christmas day itself covered all the requisite bases of excellent food, drinking, family and some presents. We had lunch at my middle brother's place, and I was used as a climbing frame by my nieces and nephew  and conquered a small mountain of delicious things. We even sang grace holding hands before eating and I managed to not die from embarrassment as Tamsyn watched on with a wide grin. After that was a (slightly) lighter dinner at my youngest brother's house, also attended by uncles, cousins, one Gran, a rabbit and two cats. Later in the evening Sing Star was perpetrated in the lounge, while most of the guys hid in the garage, playing darts and occasionally farting which let me tell you is the height of comedy after a couple of gins.

We also talked to my Nan, uncle and aunt in the UK over Skype, which mainly involved everyone crowding in front of the computer and shouting a lot while a neighbouring, aged Elvis impersonator went through some songs in the lounge.

Oh, and special shout out to my cousin's trifle, which was delicious and well worth going into a diabetic coma for.

Other highlights of the trip include a picnic down by the Waikato river with Scott, a walk through the Hamilton gardens with my dad, and a fun night at Calum's, where most of the boys managed to meet up for several drinks and a whole lot of nerd talk, much to Tamsyn's bemusement.

The flight back was just as blissfully uneventful as the trip up. The in-flight biscuit was pretty good.