The day after Christmas is a national holiday in New Zealand -- Boxing Day.  Apparently, in days past, the upperclass would box up stuff they no longer wanted / needed and passed those boxes  out to people less fortunate than them.  The holiday is celebrated today -- although not in that fashion. 

For Boxing Day, we joined the Basel and Malcolm families for another day at the beach.  This time we went to Goat's Island, about forty minutes from Auckland.  The drive was great -- this country has some really pretty sites!  And the day of fellowship was even better! 

It was a bit cloudy and somewhat cold when the wind blew, but it was a fun time all around.  James chased the ducks and dug in the sand before giving out in fatigue!  Some of the bolder souls braved the COLD water and went swimming.  We sat on the beach and enjoyed the view and the fellowship! 

Since Yahoo is transitioning to a newer system of some type, we are unable to post pictures with the blogs at the moment.  Please check out our Shutterfly account for pictures of Goats Island!  They will be in the December album soon!