Christmas

So what if there was a hint of scandal about Mary, says Ian Harris. The hope for a messiah was kept alive even through flawed human beings in Jesus' lineage.

Christmas with its inextricable mixture of the sacred and the secular has a universal and eternal appeal, writes Garth George.

Leyland Leopard 194 will cruise the streets of Dunedin once again this Christmas.

Santa Claus Village at the Arctic Circle in Finland is surely one of the greatest destinations in the world for lovers of all things Christmassy, as AAP travel writer Leah McLennan discovered.

Besides meeting Santa himself in Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland, a visit to his post office at the Santa Claus Village is a must.

Sodden plants at the Botanic Garden were well-carolled yesterday afternoon, but the rhododendrons at the Lady Thorn Rhododendron Dell in Port Chalmers missed out.

Cecylia Klobukowska, from Poland, shows how to make traditional Polish Christmas fare: barszcz with uszka (clear beetroot soup with mushroom dumplings), honey cakes and honey cookies.

Kiwis are dreaming of whizzing about in jetboats, swanning around in designer clothing and bouncing on trampolines this Christmas, research shows.

The Big Feed is on once again with the Orwell St Chapel running its Christmas dinner for the fourth time - and there is an open invitation.