Thursday, December 28, 2006

New year? new diet...


In the Christmas spirit at a beach barbecue on Dec 22


Christine gives me a Christmas kiss


You know I love being Rudolph


Christmas morning in Manly


Canadian Kim shows goodwill to all men


Dani is thrilled to be a Christmas jester





Well very Merry Christmas and Happy New year to everyone. I've been rubbish at updating this blog - been having way too much fun? Mais bien sur!

Christmas was very strange away from friends and family - and to be in the warm sunshine. The forecast for Christmas weekend was rain, thunder, rain and more rain. But the sun shone down brightly on Christmas day and made Manly feel like the best place to be in the world.

When Danielle and I finished work on Friday we went to Cargo bar at Darling Harbour with some of the imaging guys and Danielle's sister Laura and sat in the boiling hot sun sipping white wine and wanting to throw ourselves into the water to escape the heat.

It didn't feel like breaking up for Christmas, rather like we had a summer holiday to look forward to.

I returned to Manly Backpackers that night - away from the comfort of Steve's flat while Danielle went to the apartment her family is renting over the holiday period.

There were quite a few new faces and a many familiar ones too and we all jollied down to Shelley beach for a barbecue - decked out in Christmas gear and feeling remarkably unfestive nevertheless. However we soon rectified this by singing Christmas tunes very loudly.

The night turned into a party at Cerutti's bar - it felt great to be back among my friend's again who all look out for each other no matter how long you have been there for.

It felt so strange to be away from family and friends at this time of year. Being on the other side of the world, in a place so like home but so far apart in terms of time zones, temperature and distance, I missed everyone so much even though being in the heat and the sunshine is fantastic.

Luckily, I had Danielle's wonderful family to look after me. After a day spent dyeing my hair (it has gone purple? black? see top photo) I met up with them on Saturday night at the Rocks - the "historic" part of Sydney near the harbour bridge. Her father Brian and sister Laura have come over from Glasgow for Christmas and Jen had flown over from New Zealand. We sat drinking wine outside an Irish pub listening to live music in the warm dusk.

On our way to Darling Harbour for dinner we heard live music coming from another bar so ventured in for one drink and ended up staying to watch a talented duo play fantastic songs from The Beatles to Oasis and dancing away.

At Darling Harbour we went for a delicious slap-up Italian meal - and I really felt welcomed into their family. Danielle and I decided the night was still young and that we needed to dance the night away so grabbed a taxi back to Manly and went to party at Cerutti's again.

I was feeling pretty homesick in the lead up to Christmas and even missing the cold and the dark so I could crave another mince pie instead of an ice cream. Just so I could cuddle up on the sofa with a duvet. Just so I could drink tea all day and eat mountains of food with my family.

I realise the rain in Britain isn't quite so stinging when listening to carol singers, how the wind merely makes fairy lights dance and make you feel cosy and warm in the comfort of your home.

On the other hand, two weekends ago this was the weather. This was the view....



It was the best hangover cure in the world - going to Taronga Zoo with Danielle, her cousin Nicky and his girlfriend Cheryl.
We fed giraffes and observed snakes, we saw a komodo dragon and were excited to see lions and tigers and bears - oh my!

So Christmas Day itself was warm and sunny too. I stayed at Danielle's flat the night before and we sang carols walking around the block in the rain and in the spa bath which didn't work (so we ended up just having a bath together instead of sharing a jacuzzi!).

In the grey morning light we opened our presents - they even bought me some stocking fillers - and had breakfast before heading to Manly around lunchtime.

Danielle and I headed to the hostel where everyone was getting merry and had already eaten lunch. We danced and had a drink with them before meeting the rest of D's family on the Corso. By this time the sun was shinning brightly so we went for a drink on the Corso and then headed to Shelley Beach for the barbecue.

Some of our friends were already there and we had a spot in the shade of some trees. Jen and I ran straight for the sea and then we barbecued our food and drank champagne. Danielle's dad was playing guitar, someone had a flute - there was a tambourine I'm sure...

We then played french cricket and some more friends came to join us. Kim climbed a tree and Christine and I played tag with the cutest little boy I have EVER seen.

We then partied at the hostel (after I left my wallet at the beach and had it kindly recovered by a random) and I tried to ring home many many times but had no success. Combination of drunkenness, phone cards being dead and a broken phone sadly.

On Boxing Day a massive group of us went to Sounds of Boxing Day. It is a huge party at a hotel in North Sydney. They have massive speakers in the courtyard and tons of rooms with different music. Thousands of people danced in the sunshine from 2pm onwards. It was great fun.

Now however it is back to work and real life again. Hopefully will be moving into a flat once two of my friends move out - great to have a base but sad to lose my lovely Canadian friends. More pics of Christmas will be posted soon!



Welsh Anthony



Mr Devlin - also known as Santa


Welsh boys and Geordie Steve barbecuing on the beach

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