? Animal controller sits beside gorillas of the mist
Santa cards for the North Pole make for sacks to fill
The wish list season is upon us, and although letters to Santa are not as common place the post office still encourages them. In Woburn, junior pupils at Our Lady of the Rosary School write letters to Santa and trek down the road to pop them in the local postal box. ?It?s part of our working programme that they write letters to Santa, at Christmas time we think it?s important to have that festive feel. ?I absolute think the children should get involved and its part of our education programme,? says principal Kathleen Daly. Petone Baptist Church pastor Steve Worsley says he doesn?t want to discourage people from sending cards but prefers the message of Saint Nicholas to accompany the idea of present giving. ?I like to tell people the story of the man who came to be known as Santa, Saint Nicholas, and about the Christ-like things he did,? says Mr Nicholas. Randwick School principal Ariana Tyson prefers allowing teachers and students to form their own ways of celebrating. ?[Writing to Santa] has not been here for a while now, we do Christmas things but they are not always the same theme. ?I like sending letters to family more, it?s not like we lay down rules for it, we just have two weeks of Christmas themes and it?s quite relaxed,? says Mrs Tyson. The schools multi-cultural make-up is also considered for end of year celebrations, she says. New Zealand Post Group communications manager Sandy Huijink says letters to Santa always make it into the right hands. ?The letters are sent to the workshop where the elves get to sorting them out for Santa,? says Mrs Huijink. Children who send Santa a letter before 17 December will receive a reply from the big man in red. New Zealand Post is gearing up to handle Santa's correspondence, which last year saw more than 110,000 letters sent from Santa to children around the country. Santa's address is: Mr Santa Claus, Santa's Workshop, North Pole 0001. Adults helping children write their letters should make sure there's a return address on the letter, including the correct postcode. As usual Santa is keen to hear about how children have been good during the year and which presents they are hoping to receive. Letters can be posted in the usual way or dropped off in the special mailboxes. Santa is also receiving messages online via www.nzpost.co.nz/christmas ?
