People around the world are preparing to celebrate Christmas. Check out some of our favourite shots of the festivities.

What do the hard-working people who run some of our city's busiest and best kitchens do when their restaurant kitchen is given a final scrub-down for the year? Do they put their feet up and let others wait on them hand and foot?

A travel company has given 100 of its staff affected by the Christchurch earth-quakes a special Christmas bonus.

Shopkeepers are bracing themselves as last-minute Christmas shoppers head to the stores on one of the biggest shopping days of the year.

New Zealand's overseas defence force personnel will be turning to heavy doses of Skype tomorrow for a link with home on Christmas Day.

I never believed the world would suddenly end, but I liked the idea that it was possible.

Jockeys Opie Bosson and Danielle Johnson are partners at home - but not at work, where they regularly compete for victory.

We're just a handful of sleeps away from one of the most exciting mornings to wake up on - Christmas Day!

If you've ever found yourself on the receiving end of a thoughtless gift you'll know it hurts. Here's some advice on dealing with a bad present.

The ten gifts you'd rather not find under your Christmas tree this year.

Many festive folks will have one eye on the difference Christmas indulgence makes to their waistlines.

Normally, talkback in the week before Christmas is full of callers ringing in with lovely stories of family get-togethers and their own personal Yuletide traditions, and we wish each other well for the holiday season. Nice, warm, fuzzy stuff.

Superyachts and their millionaire owners are in port - and they're sharing the Christmas spirit. The locally-built 50m Ohana and the palatial 58.5m Ulysses are the big attractions around Auckland's Viaduct Basin.

Christmas isn't just about grabbing at a huge pile of presents, it's also a great time for giving, or buying "good" gifts - the sort that make the world a better place.

Northland is in for a drenching this weekend, as the remnants of Cyclone Evan brush the country.

Cyclone Evan's going to put a bit of a dampener on Christmas - it's likely to be wet, hot and humid. The remnants of the tropical cyclone which hit Samoa and Fiji are set to reach New Zealand around Christmas Eve.

Festive lights, Christmas trees, a jolly Santa waving you in and carols can be the magic formula for retailers trying to lure shoppers in and seal a deal.

Consumers cutting loose after a year of watching their wallets is one reason for a huge increase in Christmas spending, according to the Retailers Association. Paymark said just over $3.2 billion went through its network between Nov 30 and Dec 20.

This Christmas, more alleged criminals will be in jail awaiting trial than in any previous year on records supplied by our prisons. The number has steadily increased since this Government came to power, to a estimated 1671 this week.

Christmas always proves the adage: it is easier to give than to receive. Not that giving seemed easy this week as we searched the shops for something loved ones would like.

Kiwi Christmas get-togethers can often begin with big reunions outside Auckland Airport's arrivals gate. This week, the Herald captured some of those precious moments:

New Zealand soldiers overseas this Christmas have been sending their love to their families and friends back home in New Zealand.