Is it beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

This is my first Christmas in the southern hemisphere, and maybe its just me, but it seems as though here in NZ they celebrate a bit differently. Here in Raglan the local bar, the YOT Club, held a super hero Christmas party. Here are the folks we live with at Solscape (Me, catwoman, the joker, Kill Bill, and Lara Croft). We arrived at the party in the back of Danny (the Joker)'s house truck. I can't imagine what any random tourist walking down the street must have thought when six or seven of us rolled up. You can't tell here, but my costume was simple... a cape from the op shop, black leggings, and undies on the outside.

We also recently moved out of our caboose home. We really liked our little dorm-sized room, but since we are in high-season and living at a hostel, I suppose we need to take what we can get. Our new room is about a five minute walk from the center of Solscape at the tipi retreat center. Yep, tipi. Here is our home for the next few weeks:

The downside of living in a tipi is that it can be quite damp. They were built for the great plains after all, and not for the tropics. But, it is actually gorgeous and tranquil up there and we have an outdoor kitchen and bathroom. We are going to cook Christmas dinner up there using the earth oven with all the long-termers here. No super hero costumes this time.I'm not sure if its the superheroes, tipis, or summer weather, but it definitely doesn't feel like Christmas. None of mom's cookies, no 7 fish dinner, and no time with the fam. All I want for Christmas is New Jersey!