If you’re in the CBD at this time of year, you’ll see these at the bottom of Queen St in that big public area called Te Komititanga or Britomart. You can’t really miss them, because they’re huge. Look at the two people on the right of the picture, and you’ll see how big they are.
Two of the Christmas decorations or ornaments in this picture are in the traditional Christmas colours of red and green. These ones are very big and they’re sitting on the ground, but usually they’re much smaller, and people hang them on their family Christmas tree at home.
In this same area, there’s also a tall Christmas tree. It’s covered in decorations, and is a pyramid shape. It’s wide at the bottom, ends in a point, and has a silver star at the top.
Normally, a traditional Christmas tree has green leaves, but this tree is covered in red flowers. And there’s a reason for that.
At this time of year in this country, there’s a special tree with heaps of red flowers. The name of the tree is pōhutukawa.
In late December, people say “Merry Christmas” to friends and family and even strangers. That means we want them to be happy.
The name of this tree isn’t English, though; it’s Māori, and that’s why some people call it the Māori Christmas tree, because the words Māori and merry sound similar. I like that.
I have a little story about the picture of the pōhutukawa tree above. As I was walking along the street, I noticed the tree, and I thought it looked very healthy and happy, so I took a picture of it.
When I turned around to continue walking, a woman was coming towards me. She smiled and started talking to me. She saw me admiring the tree, and she told me she was a gardener. She also told me something I didn’t know. She said this kind of pōhutukawa was called a Maori Princess. I didn’t know that. I thought there was only one kind of pōhutukawa.
So you live and learn, and sometimes it pays to stop and talk to strangers.
Now Hear this. 
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