For those of you who celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a marvelous day yesterday. Did Santa bring you loads of presents, or was it a day like mine, filled with family and food?

It’s summer in New Zealand. So, unlike my characters in INVITATION TO RUIN, my Regency historical, I’ll be having a warm holiday season.  No snow for us. It’s the start of summer. I’ll probably head to the beach along with half the country.

I had Christmas day with my two sisters and their children, and my mum, at my sister, Lisa’s house, in Eastbourne, by the beach. It’s one of the nicest swimming bays in Wellington where I live. The sun was shining, there was not a breath of wind (which is unusual for Wellington, nicknamed the windy city) and it was a pleasant 22C which I think is around 71.6F. We had a lunchtime roast turkey and salads, with pavlova and hokey pokey cheesecake with strawberries and raspberries for desert. Then the kids and I took Lola, my sister’s Burmese Mountain dog (huge), for a walk along the beach. Lola is now 9 months old and is very big, she really takes you for a walk.

Kiwi’s always take their main holidays around December/January. The children have school holidays from about 18th December through to the end of January.  Most families head to the beach. The summer days are spent lazy by the water, holding family bar-b-ques and reading great books!

Today, is Boxing Day a public holiday.  I went for my walk this morning to work off the calories I ate yesterday.  But I plan to sit outside under my sun umbrella this afternoon and read. I’ll read all the fabulous books I haven’t had time to read during the busy year. I currently have about 65 books stored up on my kindle!

Finally, I had to share a picture of our iconic Kiwi Christmas tree, the Pohutukawa, which often features on greeting cards and in poems and songs. It’s become an important symbol for New Zealanders at home and abroad. I hope, wherever you are in the world, you have a special holiday season filled with friends, family and love.

Take care, and happy reading.  May all your dreams come true in 2012!

If you feel like saying hello, tell me how you spent your Christmas day. Was it snowing where you were?