Holidays Exhaust on....

It has come and gone, Christmas of 2008 is nearly over. As usual, I found myself a little sad this afternoon with all the excitement winding down. 

This morning Brett woke me to our 6 year old neighbors shouting at 6 AM , "Santa has come, Santa has come!!" and him shaking me saying, "Let's go open presents!" So presents we opened!

After the gifts were unwrapped and it was entirely decided that Margaret is very spoiled by those who love her, we made our way up to "Bretty's mum's," in Alstonville where we dined on a delicious Macadamia nut Ham alongside quiche and mimosas! And more gifts....

When the morning indulgences were completed we quickly returned to Lennox Head to put our "swimmers" on for an afternoon on the river with Cherie, Brett's "mum" and Dave, her partner. 

Christmas day being a festive one complimented our spirits by granting us fisherman's luck and us actually catching several Taylor, tiny little fish, one of which nearly bit off Cherie's thumb! As things go,the fishing worked up an appetite urging us to set up camp on the beach where we dined on oysters, prawns, and cheese.... yum... And a bit of scurfing - a fusion of surfing and water skiing. Brett unfortunately snapped his board in half cutting the adventure a little short.

All up it has been a great Christmas here in Australia Land. Outside of missing family and friends and all the Tennessee fun, I have very much so been enjoying my day on the water and other Christmas excitements. 

Tomorrow we are continuing on with the celebrations down the coast in Arrawara with Brett's dad and stepmom. I will keep you blog followers posted with more tales from the OUTBACK!

With love on Christmas..... 

 

Tis the Season!

To go ahead and answer the question, yes, Aussies do celebrate Christmas, but no, they do not celebrate Thanksgiving. I however did! The third Thursday of November I rushed home from work to slave over a hot stove.... No, not really, but between the five of us, we had a nice little feast! Although not entirely traditional, and not nearly as tasty as what I would have eaten at home, it was sufficient and lots of fun!  It was a beautiful fusion of Australian Asian, American and southern cuisine. 

Now in terms of Christmas, indeed it is celebrated! In fact, Christmas carols overwhelm the malls, pictures are taken with Santa, and although it is summer, Aussies celebrate in similar spirit rather in boardshorts and bikins instead of sweaters and scarves. The challenge this holiday season for me is being far from family and friends. I however am looking forward to sunshine, seafood, and a day at the beach. Tis' the life I lead in Lennox Head! Happy Crissy! lots and lots of love and holiday cheer ...

Giddy UP!

Not so long ago, with boyfriend in Indonesia surfing, I ventured to Brisbane, the BIG city with Shelly for a girls day out where we met up with some of her close friends from home.

The day began with a beautiful brunch, champagne, and several hours at the races. Apparently, horses are very Australian as is gambling and "piss" aka "grog" aka alcohol. What is that saying, "when in Rome do as the Romans do..." so this I did! AND managed to lose a few bucks on some horses I chose for their pretty names. Lesson learned. It was a great break from the small town, but entirely exhausting and seriously took me nearly a week to recover.