Christmas Down Under

Christmas was certainly weird!  With all the kids out of school, and the weather warming up, there isn't the desperate need for a party that we have in the colder northern hemisphere.  It stays light until 9pm, and everyone walks around in shorts, so it doesn't feel Christmassy.  Since there isn't the impetus for holiday merry-making, the Aussies and Kiwis are also decidedly behind in their Christmas decorating style.  Everything was tinsel, and garland, flashing lights and plastic things - very cheesy! 

My brother arrived on the 23rd.  I got to see him for about 30 minutes and then headed out to work.  Just as well, since he wasn't able to stay awake for long.  But really good to see him.

On the 24th, David and I went shopping for Christmas dinner.  I had asked Paul if he wanted to do something besides turkey (since Australians don't do turkey, but are more likely to do salmon and shellfish), and he looked at me with horror.  So, Dave and I went to the Queen Victoria market, and wandered (pushed our way) through the stalls of vegetable sellers, bargaining for the veggies and turkey to do a complete meal.

 

We also took a little trip to the Melbourne City Center to see the Myers Store Windows, a family attraction that had a line-up, and the decorations downtown.    Yes, that is a tree made entirely of plastic stars, and there is constant Christmas carols being piped out of it.

On Christmas eve we went to a church service at a nearby Anglican church.  They had an early evening family service, so we headed there to join in the singing.  Aside from getting soaked in the pouring rain on the way there, it was lovely – clearly a family-oriented Anglican church, that seemed to be high Anglican in their ceremony, but was very down-to-earth in their approach.  There were lots of Christmas carols, and a very cute nativity scene.  A particularly nice touch was that they brought in Saint Nicholas, dressed in his robes, and told the story of the Turkish priest on whom Sinta Klaus is based. 

We walked home in the bright light, and tried to keep up the Christmas feeling, while trying to stay cool.  I made dessert for the next night, and and it got eaten a little early.  Paul has incredible will-power, except when it comes to warm sticky date cake with caramel sauce.

Christmas morning we had a very civilized rising at about 10am, and then opened presents!  I had gotten the boys stockings, so it was a little bit of home. 

 

Then we spend the afternoon watching Christmas movie classics (Charlie Brown’s, National Lampoons, A Christmas Story), while I made and stuffed the bird.  Christmas dinner was a feast, and the boys got to do the many dishes.

 

Boxing day felt like any other day, except that David and I headed out to the Melbourne Cricket Grounds to participate in a Melbournian tradition – the Test Day Cricket Match.  Outside the stadium was a blast – people in flags of Australia or Pakistan, and wearing the team colours.  Everyone seemed excited, there was a little fair ground, families were playing cricket on the grounds – it was exciting. 

The game…not so much.  I never knew that a sport could be so incredibly boring.  We left after 2 hours.

From the match, we headed along the Yarra river to the south side of Melbourne for some exploring. 

    

We made it to the War Memorial:

and the botanic gardens:

and across the bridge to Federation square:  

By the end of all this walking, our feet hurt! So, back home to veg.

On the 27th, we vegged.  I mean, really vegged.  We watched TV and movies, and worked on blogs, and pictures, and read books, and never left the apartment.  Ah, I love left-overs.