Some Kiwis, it seems, fancy a summer holiday period that better reflects the realities of our climate.
A survey by Tourism Bay of Plenty found almost a quarter of New Zealand adults would support a move to ditch December and move the summer holiday period back by two months. They clocked 24 per cent in voting for a move that would see work and school breaks in February. But the survey also recorded 38 per cent of respondents - let's call them The Decemberists - against the proposition. I think it's a belter of an idea. For a start, there's no way anyone would do any real work in December, so we'd get two bites of the summer cherry: the pseudo-holiday of Christmas and early January, followed by the real thing in February.
The roars of outrage from the Employers, Manufacturers and Slave-Drivers' Association would be lost amid the sound of cicadas and breaking waves on the February beaches.
The real winners would be the kids. The poor little blighters have their summer holidays - which are pretty much the raison d'etre of any Kiwi child - ruined by December rains and squally weather. As surely as Santa brings the showers, the Kiwi season settles in February.
Let's follow the sun.
