Pohutukawa

This sparkly Christmas tree decoration was bought in Dunedin in December 2011 when we were on holiday visiting our good friends who emigrated to New Zealand from Scotland in 1981. The pohutukawa tree is known as the NZ Christmas tree. It has glorious bright red flowers that bloom in December, which is, of course, at the height of the Southern Hemisphere summer. Hubby and I spent six weeks that year on the holiday of a lifetime, celebrating my retirement from the "Cooncil." The fact that our daughter and her fiancé were living in Sydney at the time was an added attraction. I've had the pleasure of visiting New Zealand three times, and would love to go back again. In the meantime this is a lovely reminder of good times and good friends.