Hi Abbigail, it's Christmas Day here in Nelson, New Zealand! I'm a day ahead of you.
I'm posting the Christmas letter I sent you in a envelope last month. It didn't make it to you because it turns out that I don't have your correct address. An anonymous stranger texted me out of the blue to let me know that they had been receiving your letters, cards, and gifts at apartment 22S for over three years. (They apparently gave your presents to another girl.) They had no idea who you were, or what your new address might be. So here goes:
14 November 2025
Dear Abbigail,
This Christmas I won’t be sending any gifts because the New Zealand Post Office warned me that tariffs might be applied when they arrive in the United States. So your mom might have to pay a fee to receive the package. That doesn’t make much sense, so I’ll send you this letter and a collection of photos of your New Zealand family instead.
Be warned that in this letter I’m using New Zealand spelling, so some of the words might seem misspelled to you. For example, where Americans write “center,” New Zealanders write “centre” instead.
And now, back to your letter…
Hello from sunny Nelson, New Zealand! It’s the end of spring here, with chilly nights and (mostly) warm days hovering around 65-70 degrees F. In some ways, Nelson reminds me of Northern California because it’s sunny and quite mild, with the ocean nearby. It’s quite different than the San Francisco Bay Area because it gets a bit colder here in winter (down to freezing sometimes), and it’s so much greener here because we get a lot more rainfall during the whole year.
What’s your favourite season of the year?
Nelson was founded in 1842, and if you look carefully around town you can still find quite a few old colonial houses. The house I rent now was built in 1908, but our neighbours live in houses built in the 1860’s. There are lots of big trees growing all over town, and the Maitai River passes through some neighbourhoods before it exits at the Port of Nelson at the edge of Tasman Bay.
Do you have any old houses in your neighbourhood?
I’ve discovered that native eels live in all the rivers and streams around here (and probably all over New Zealand). One stream near where I live is called The Brook, and it is home to a pool filled with eels that hide under a concrete retaining wall. When I walk down to the side of the stream at the pool, the eels come swimming out and stare at me from the water, all together in a big wavy clump. I counted about 30 of them! Some are quite small and skinny, perhaps only two feet long, but the big ones look to be about three feet long as as thick as your arm. People feed them at the pool. I bought some uncooked chicken drumsticks, and tossed them in the water. The eels swam right over to the meat and went after it. You could see the bigger eels swimming away to their hiding place under the wall with whole drumsticks in their mouths!
Do you live near a river or stream? And have you seen any fish or other animals there?
If you follow The Brook upstream and away from Nelson, you’ll find the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary. It’s a natural valley enclosed by a predator-proof fence that keeps out the rats, stoats, and possums. These animals do a lot of damage to the native plants, birds, and insects in most of New Zealand, so it’s wonderful to have a place like the sanctuary where natives can grow in peace. They have stocked the sanctuary with birds such as the orange-fronted parakeet (Maori name = kākāriki karaka), South Island robin (kakaruai), South Island tomtit (ngirungiru), and even the kiwi bird. They also moved 56 tuatara into a special enclosure in the sanctuary. Tuatara are a special type of native lizard that grow up to two feet in length, live in burrows, and need to lie in the sun during the day to gather energy for hunting at night. They have a third eye on their head that’s hidden under the skin and only detects light. The sanctuary also has glowworms along the banks of the stream that you can see glowing at night like little stars. You can hear native owls called ruru hooting away in the bush (or forest) after dark.
What’s your favourite native California animal? Can you hear owls in your neighbourhood?
I like to visit the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary a few times a year to have a long walk through the bush. It’s very hilly all around Nelson, and you can find walking trails everywhere. I walk all over town, picking different neighbourhoods and hills to explore. I have to wear a wide-brimmed hat, and put on plenty of sunscreen because the sun is very strong here. It doesn’t take long to get burned when you’re outside without protection. Unfortunately skin cancer is a common problem in New Zealand.
Do you get sunburned easily like me?
Besides walking, I like to ride my e-bike all over the Nelson area. Most days I do my favourite short ride to the top of a hill near the sea. I ride through downtown, then along the waterfront to Tahunanui Beach. You can see mountain ranges in the far distance across Tasman Bay and the Cook Strait. In the winter there will be snow on the peaks, and I’ll be wearing my biking jacket with a few layers underneath, and a warm pair of gloves to keep off the chill. In the summer I watch sailboats, kayaks, paddle boards, and kite boards zooming over the bay and close to the port area as I ride alongside the cliffs on Rocks Road. Then I’ll ride past the beach parking lots and picnic areas, and around the holiday park on a special boardwalk built for riders and walkers along the estuary. This is a beautiful place at sunset as the sun disappears behind the distant mountains. I then ride back towards the hill through blocks of houses, and turn onto a narrow street that winds up the hillside all the way to the top. I pass houses of all shapes and sizes, with hidden gardens and fragrant flowers. The view across Tasman Bay gets better and better as I climb. The high point of the ride is the lookout area that gives a good view of Tahunanui Beach, the bay, some small islands, and the blue water all the way to the distant shores where the mountains lie. I soak up the view for a while, then jump back on the bike and take a street on the other side of the hill, riding quickly downhill into the centre of Nelson, taking one of the steepest streets in town on the way. Good thing my bike has strong disk brakes!
Do you ride your bike whenever you can? And what’s your favourite destination when you ride your bike?
This Christmas I’ll fly north to visit with Grandpa Francis and Auntie Helen in Katikati in the North Island of New Zealand. We will enjoy hanging out together, playing games, cooking, and traveling to visit friends and family in the centre of the North Island. I’ll see a few volcanoes and some hot springs and boiling mud pools on the way. We’ll use Francis’s car, and I’ll probably do most of the driving because Francis has less energy, and Helen is not used to driving on the left side of the road (the opposite of how you drive in the United States). The summer weather will be hot, so I’ll be wearing shorts and sun hat. And I’ll bring my swimsuit just in case.
Can’t wait!
Do you have a Christmas tree in your living room?
What are you going to do for the holidays?
Whatever that may be, you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love,
Dad