Christmas Eve in Nelson this year was warm and sunny, a welcome change from the floods and landslides a week ago.  Our Pohutukawa tree is in flower, in spite of the insults it received earlier in the year.

The flowers are always welcome, for New Zealanders they are a sign of Christmas:

a great attraction for bees (and birds):

After about 15-20 mins (using the 300mm f4 plus an extension tube), I managed to get a more or less sharp closeup:

(It’s hard to combine photography with duties as a host at this time of year.)