It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly a week since I last blogged. Where does the time go?
Fi and I had Monday off work and we (both) had to go Christmas shopping but not before we had dropped the car off for it’s overdue service (ridiculously, our car is supposed to be serviced every 6 months). Afterwards, we caught the bus from South Road into the city and parted for a couple of hours after coffee to shop for each other. I certainly don’t ever remember Christmas being stressful when I was a kid but as a grown-up with a wife to shop for it certainly can be! We had set a relatively modest budget for each other this year and I ended up buying her a couple of charms for her Pandora bracelet (a Christmas tree to symbolise our first married Christmas and a wedding cake to represent our marriage) as well as Mario Kart for the Wii and a hardback photography book on South Australia. I ended up going over by $40 (shh, don’t tell Fi!).
When we got back to Glenelg we realised that we didn’t really have much in the way of food and so we headed out for dinner. We ate at an Italian restaurant that Nick and Emma really like called Capriccio. The food was OK but it was pretty quiet (there was only one other table being served) although it was a Monday and we are in a global recession I suppose. I would certainly eat there again. I had a spinach and gnocchi starter and a stewed goat for mains (which was very good).
I had to work a late-shift on both Tuesday and Christmas Eve which was a bummer but I did manage to finish on Christmas Eve at just before 23:00 (I had gone to work early and skipped lunch) as Fi and I wanted to go to midnight mass. By the time I got home it was too late and so we stayed up with a glass of wine and opened a single present each before retiring to bed to wait for Santa.
Christmas day itself was lovely. Fi and I both worked Christmas 2007 (albeit together) so it was fantastic to have the day off together. We woke up leisurely and enjoyed scrambled eggs on toast with a nice espresso and a glass of fresh orange juice. We then sat down to open our presents (obviously everybody’s favourite part of the day!). Fi had clearly put a lot of thought into my gifts on our modest budget. I got two DVDs (Top Gear and Only Fools and Horses). I was especially chuffed with the Only Fools and Horses DVD as I mentioned to Fi that my Dad and I always used to sit down and watch it on Christmas day and that I would miss that. I also got a couple of books; one on travel wildlife photography and one on how to be a good husband (perhaps a not-so-subtle hint?!). I also got a 3D Earth globe puzzle to (yet again) try to improve my geography. Last but not least was Civilization IV which I’m really looking forwards to playing.
After present opening, we packed a picnic into a cool-box (or Esky) as they call them here) and sat on the grassy foreshore at Glenelg beach. It was a warm day (over 26 degrees) but it was overcast and a little windy so we didn’t feel like swimming in the sea. We sat and ate our baguettes and enjoyed a glass of Nepenthe Sauvignon Blanc. We were joined by Derek (an English chap who’s been over here for a couple of years). When we’d finished eating we headed back to our flat where Fiona got ready for our evening do and Derek and I played on Mario Kart and LittleBigPlanet for a while.
Anit and Bec came and picked us up around 19:00 to take us to Murray, Linda and Holly’s house for Christmas drinks. Anit had brought us a wine cooler for Christmas and Fi and I had picked him up a book on lighthouses.
The evening is a little bit of a blur in that the wine was very free-flowing! All together there were ten of us (me, Fiona, Anit, Bec, Derek, Murray, Holly, Linda, Thomaz and Danielle). We had a BBQ and even managed to dance a bit of Céilidh!). I’m glad we left when we did (about midnight) as both Fi and I had an 08:00 start on Boxing day (traditionally a busy day in the ED). I was suffering at work but I managed to survive. Poor Anit looked a little worse for wear when he rocked up, as he left the party around 01:30!
Boxing day at work was painful (for the above reasons) but passed relatively quickly. I cycled home and was so enticed by the blue sky and sea that as soon as Fi returned home at about 18:00 we went to the beach for an hour and had a (brief) swim. It was lovely. Given that we had missed out on a traditional turkey roast on Christmas day, we roasted a chicken after we got back from the beach. It was delicious (even if I do say so myself) although we didn’t get to sit down until about 21:00 so I was starving!
All-in-all, I’ve had a lovely final Christmas in Australia. Bring on the New Year!