Christmas 2014 Down Under
This Christmas was very different to any I've enjoyed before but just as much fun if not more so! Being half way around the world at a time like Christmas, away from family and friends can be really hard. Luckily we've made friends with another couple from the UK who are in the same position and so the four of us spent this Christmas together and made it one we'll all never forget.
At one stage we were worried we would never achieve the classic Christmas beach photo as the weather has been very up and down but shortly after a pancake filled breakfast the sun came out with it's Santa hat on, so we quickly popped down to the beach. Luckily for me and Stew, our friends live right next to Tamarama beach - the next beach down from Bondi.
Although present wise it wasn't quite like home we tried to make it so with a secret santa between the four of us. And we decorated their apartment with Christmas crackers, santa hats and candy canes :)
On Christmas Eve we settled in for the night with a fantastic seafood paella and watched Miracle on 34th Street. My favourite Christmas film!
When we awoke on Christmas morning I called my parents who are also sunning themselves in Spain and we set about opening our gifts. Stew and I did very well this year. I received two macaroons (Christmas pudding and salted caramel) and a cute T2 bag of loose tea and tea strainer from Jonny. Plus a China phrase book which will definitely come in handy from Alicia. Stew had already bought me a cosy jumper for our travels, a diary and journal which you might've seen in my last post and then surprised me with a Chanel compact mirror :)
For Christmas lunch we 'put a shrimp on the barbie' and had half a roast dinner and half an Aussie bbq. We enjoyed a feast of turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, pigs in blankets, roast veg, potato salad, corn on the cob and prawns. Everything tasted amazing, it could possibly be the best Christmas lunch I've ever had. I love the idea of embracing a bit of both cultures. And of course Christmas is ALL about food so we had to go all out :)
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, enjoying time with family and friends wherever you are in the world. I can't quite believe that tomorrow is New Years Eve and that we leave Sydney in 2 days time. It's bitter sweet now we've come to love Sydney and call it home. We've made great friends here and had great jobs. But at the same time I will never stop missing home, my family and friends. I feel like we could've done perhaps another 6 months here but our visa's wouldn't allow it anyway so there's no point in dwelling but instead enjoy the next part of our adventure!
I'm not sure how often I will get to blog over the next 2 months about our travels but I'll try my best. Otherwise you can keep up to date with everything we're doing/seeing on my Instagram page.