A Beachy Christmas

Photo from here

Its taken me a while to get used to the whole beachy, hot Christmas.  Growing up Christmas was all about savoring each present- opening it slowly so that it would stretch as long as possible.. because in the rain, snow, or cold- when nothing was open- and all of your friends were busy with family things.. there was nothing left to do the rest of the day..  Sean and I used to wake up SUPER early- open our stockings, then twiddle our thumbs till mom and dad woke up- made their coffee- and told us that we could start opening our presents.  Mom used to make us go to the midnight church service on Christmas eve- so you'd think we would be able to sleep in a little later.  Nope- 5am we were always up- bright eyed, and ready to start the day.  Probably the one day of the year we were both excited to be up that early.

After having spent a few Christmas's in Australia now- I am starting to embrace the theme.  Still an early wake up- but less of a rush to open presents and gather under the tree.  Instead it might go something like this... wake up early- go on a walk to the beach.. maybe go for a swim- the boys usually go for a surf.. have a "take-away" coffee from a little cafe on the beach or go home and make coffee and have breakfast... THEN... open presents.  Yes, I know i'm not a kid anymore- so maybe that is the difference.. but it seems a lot more leisurely here.  I think partly because there is so much else to do.  The beaches are packed with swimmers, sun-bakers (they call it here), surfers, kids with their new boogie boards, or sand skateboards.. families camped out on the sand with their giant umbrellas and gallon pump bottles of sunscreen- coolers of ice cold beer and kids running around with buckets of "chips".  The beach is lined with over sized beach towels, grandparents reading their summer novels, pregnant women in bikinis, children with bleach blond hair and tanned skin, dad's playing beach cricket with the kids, teams in fancy- dress outfits for beach volleyball tournaments.. lifeguards in their crazy costumes.  Music is loud- people are relaxed and on vacation- and the city comes alive.

So here I am- embracing the Aussie Christmas.  I bought our first (fake) Christmas tree (well second- our first one was hot pink- several years ago- wish i had a photo!) the other day and I can't wait to set it up.  All 7 feet of fake pine!  It seems everyone here has fake trees... I am assuming because they don't grow real Christmas trees here?!  And since we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here-and there is no reason to wait-  I just might have to set it up this weekend!

Here are a few photos that remind me of Christmas in Australia..

A sand man- picture from here

People camp out at the beach- all day long 
Image from here

BBQing on the beach with friends
image from here

This photo is exactly like the off roads we take to camping destinations (but not proper camp sites)- on the beach

 Wharf Bar- the best place to be on a Sunday summer evening

Manly Wharf Bar in the distance

Queensland Mango's - Probably my favorite fruit of all time!

not even sure where this came from.. 

HAHA!  Santa on Vacation - photo from here

A typical Aussie BBQ on the beach
image from here

Photos from here