A Kiwi Christmas tree

In houses here in Kiwiland they use the same trees as everyone else for Christmas. But just as the northern hemisphere uses poinsettia as a Yuletide symbol, the Kiwis have their own.

As it's summer here, there's not much that's conducive to growing poinsettias at this time, so the intriguing pohutukawa tree is our new symbol.

This specimen is in the garden between our house and our landlord's, Bruce and Vicki's.

The down side is we think it sparks Ian's hayfever!