Halloween, New Zealand Style

Halloween in New Zealand was appropriately chilly, cloudy, and damp, but it had none of the other usual components. None of the grocery stores had specials on giant grab bags of tiny candy bars, or had any candy corn or pumpkins for sale at all. There was not a single porch hosting a jack-o-lantern, not a single giggling group of kids carrying pillowcases. The leaves were green and bright, the flowers were out in full force, and the air smelled like sea and honeysuckle, not like bonfires and crunchy red leaves.

At one point several of us were walking down the street in full regalia and a curious car stopped and rolled down its window.

“Wot’s this?” the man said from within. “Some sort of costume party?”

“It’s Halloween!” I cried, practically heartbroken. What kind of strange parallel universe were we in?

Despite the complete wackiness of this country that does not recognize one of the best holidays created, good ol’ Centabay managed to throw a pretty awesome Halloween party. Jen and I were fire and ice. I was fire, with a red dress, golden paper flames, and an amount of golden glitter that would have given my dad a heart attack. (“It’s going to be all over the carpet!” I can just hear him cry.) Jen was ice, with a blue dress, a string of beautiful snowflakes, and an equal dose of silver glitter. Fio and Holly were a devil and an angel; the Scotsmen were…Scotsmen (officially they were the older and younger versions of William Wallace from Braveheart, with their kilts and lots of blue paint); the neighbors were Ninja Turtles; etc.

Jen and I made a batch of mud cake with extra creepy worms (lemme tell you something – I had never before met a mud cake expert, but I have found one in Jennifer.) We all played lots of games in the hostel kitchen, with all three tables pushed together, and then paraded around town in costume. About ten percent of the people out were costumed; everyone else was a lame party pooper.

The best part of Halloween? I brought a bag of candy corn from home (thanks, mommy!) and Jen and I saved it the entire first month (revealing strengths of will that I never knew I had.) As soon as midnight struck and the day officially rolled over, we broke out the bag.




Happy Belated Halloween to everyone at home – how was your holiday? What did everyone dress up as? Leave your costume in a comment!