Small town New Zealand has many charms. The quaint coffee shops, the composting toilets and the friendly locals. A ridiculously long Main Street with the highway running through it and only one pedestrian crossing plus an abundance of roundabouts. Always a fun combination. This weekend we stole ourselves away from the chaos and drama that is the weekend before Christmas. We punctuated the Birthday Festival with a weekend stay in Otaki on the Kapiti Coast. It was lush. We stayed in a batch near the beach. Watched the sun set, strolled on the sand, slept in. Had a BBQ and drank lots of champagne through a straw. (Ok only I did that (birthday girl can drink Moët through a straw if she wants to). I opened presents and delighted in the presence of my friends.
We popped into town, were impressed by the laughingly bad service in a cafe and were deliriously happy when we found these stockings:

It was magic. Then I found some merchandise that has inspired a new feature that I like to call “What The?!”
I really can’t imagine that people exist who would actually buy this stuff? But exist they must because here they are. May I present to you ‘Exhibit A’ :

I have no words. And now I have my fingers crossed that I don’t find some fake bread or fake (mostly eaten) apples in my Christmas Stocking. Eww.