Sunday, December 25th, 2005
For some reason, I forgot to enter this day in my journal, so I have had to reconstruct events from photos and memory. We started off the day with Bloody Marys, as per tradition I'm told; and this might be part of the reason I had missed this day in my journal...
Anyway, Sea was the designated bar tender and this was his first attempt at making Bloody Marys the first few were a bit strong and it took a while to get a consistent mix, but in the end they were well received.
The bloody prototype.
Gabrielle had started preparing the day's food and Joan helped out with the potatos. The alcohol was chilling and the beef was being seared on the bbq when people started arriving...
The famous curry puffs and sausage rolls.
Joan doing the potoatos.
The table was already set.
Large slab of beef - must be seared first.
Sink o' suds.
Sea & Mort enjoy a nice Bloody Mary by the barby.
We all feasted on the appetizers (sausage rolls, curry puffs, smoked salmon and cream cheese rolls and other yummy nibbly things) and sat around playing with the kids until it was time for Father Christmas to stop by.
Ben and Hamish haven't quite figured out how much they can fit in their mouths yet.
Jasper was very pround of his Thunderbird 1.
Bridget kicks back and unwinds.
Here comes "Seanta" Claus...
When Santa made his appearance he snuck around the side of the house and appeared through the back door. Naturally, the kids went nuts.
"Action" (meaning: blurry) shot of Santa making his grand entrance.
Hamish has his reservations about the big man in red.
Ben appears to have no problems with Grandma Audrey to protect him.
Meanwhile, Jasper is awe-struck... And Bridget is pretty oblivious.
Ben quite likes the furry chap who brings him prezzies.
Zoe takes Bridget, who is still pretty oblivious.
Jasper anxiously awaits his presents and Joan already has two.
Ben unwraps his presents while poor Hamish misses out.
But he's safe with Grandma Gabby and "Big Grandma" Joan.
More Christmas chaos...
After most of us had received our presents (except Sea who had gone for a "liquor run,") we say farewell to Santa who was starting to overheat. Strangely he didn't leave the way he came and went straight for the pool. Santa made a big splash this Christmas! 
Santa looks a bit less plump when soaking wet...
Later on, Jasper commented that Santa had left his clothes behind when he found them drying on the line. Euan told him that he would come back for them later.
Afterwards the kids played with their new toys and everybody talked a little more excitedly. Eventually the bbq'd prawns were ready. And SOOO tasty.
Soon Sea returns to open his presents. Too bad he missed out on all the action!
Mmmmm pile of prawns.
Very soon lunch was ready and we feasted and feasted. And eventually, after that was dessert. There was a great ceremony over the Christmas pudding, which had to be set aflame.
The Christmas pudding is revealed. First it must be flipped out of the bowl.
Then you douse it with booze and set it on fire! (I couldn't get a good photo but have some video that I will include on the multimedia version of this travelogue - stay tuned!)
Desserts - from top: trifle (I put the cream and almonds on top, :)
Christmas pudding, custard for the pudding and brandy butter (the best part.)
The pudding was quite possibly THE richest thing I have eaten in my life. I was buzzing for a good hour or two afterwards. In fact the rest of the afternoon was a bit of a haze. The kids happily wound down eventually and were taken home and the rest of us old folk chatted and dranks some more and probably ate some more of what was left over later on. Eventually we waddled off to our beds. At around 11ish I called home, since it was Christmas morning there. It had a nice talk with Mum, Jeremy & Amanda and was actually really excited to hear their voices despite being quite exhausted and inebriated. I felt like I was tripping over my tongue. Anyway, it made me very happy and I went off to bed in a gleeful daze.
Go to Boxing Day in Australia » |