Task number: 80.
Spend Christmas on the beach.
Date: December 2008 – January 2009.
Location: Bon Beach, Melbourne, Australia.
Attendees: Yvonne Weatherlake, Steph Weatherlake,
Victoria Weatherlake, Mark Littler.
I’ll admit I was very nervous of
this when it was first proposed. Still, my girlfriends sister & partner had
moved to Australia the previous year & we had made an agreement shortly
after we started to get serious that rather than try & frantically dart
between families every Christmas, we would alternate in years & this year
it was her family’s turn.
I was a big fan of Christmas for
all sorts of reasons, but mainly tradition. It might be a strange logic, but
Christmas with sunshine for me just couldn’t work. It’s just not right if it’s
not blowing a gale or pouring down with rain. I was going to miss all sorts of
things. The Christmas TV, the decorations, but most of all, I guess, my family.
I had a rather sad feeling as I saw all
the Christmas trees going up & everybody dressing up warm, getting ready
for the Winter festivities, when I would be spending Christmas day in 30 degree
heat. How wrong I would be!
I imagine that it might be
different in other cultures, such as Asia where it’s not really tradition to
celebration a rather western idea, but the holidays in Australia are truly ace
& I would advise everyone thinking about going to oz to think about it.
When I try to describe it I
always use the phrase “It’s exactly the same as being at home, except you can
leave the back door open. Simply because traditions, celebrations, everything
is the same except the weather. That is One thing I don’t miss. The fabled perception
of Britain’s Christmas wonderland for anyone outside the UK is simply not true.
Most of the time, British weather at Christmas is grim & mainly consists of
drizzly rain & cold wind. The fact that I kept seeing models of Father
Christmas when I was in my shorts & t-shirt soon faded away.
We started Christmas day with
exactly the same traditions we start every Christmas day. The rummaging of
stockings, the glass of Bucks-fizz & opening of presents. I hasten to say
that Christmas morning is the ONLY time of the year that you have Two things
before you even got dressed, by the way & that is Chocolate & Alcohol.
Lunch was slightly different. BBQ Chicken & salad, but then I’m not a big
fan of the grand Christmas lunch anyway & it was nice to have something
different, meaning the ditching of the annual Sprout tasting. Another
“tradition” that everybody seems to indulge in at this time of year for
absolutely no reason than “It’s Christmas!” apparently. The next bit is the
best bit. I like my sleep, but the other favourite British past time at
Christmas of eating too much & passing out in front of the telly for the
rest of the afternoon is something I’ve never been able to get into. Although the
alternative of “The tray game” or Charades still makes sleeping seem energetic
in my book. In Australia, the best way to spend Christmas afternoon is to head
up the beach. Whether it’s flying the kite you got as a present that morning,
playing a spot of Cricket or Football on the sand or just sitting back &
taking in the day is so much more than cooped up in doors. Boxing day is all
about the test. The Aussies love their Cricket & Boxing day is fantastic
just to sit down with a few “Tinnies", in the sunshine & take in the
atmosphere.
I’ve been lucky enough to do it again
since & it was just as special. I’d gladly do it again & I’d recommend
it to anyone thinking of trying something different. You’ll love it.
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