Christmas in Oz

After a busy 3 days at Uluru it was back home for that restful period just before Christmas where you can just relax and do nothing. NOT! The next couple of days were spent grocery shopping, wrapping presents and laundry.

On Christmas Eve we went to the Children's Mass at St. John Vianney's Church (across the parking lot from my school). It was great. The gospel reading was a nativity performance by the kids. The mass only lasted about 45 minutes and ended with a mele for gum and birthday cake. Mom, dad and I headed home though to get ready for Christmas Eve dinner.

Shirley, Bill, Rob, Nicole and Kyra (Nat's mom, her partner, Nat's brother and sister-in-law) all came over for the traditional Bendfeld Christmas Eve BBQ. With no BBQ we broiled the steaks in the oven, but it all tasted delicious anyways. The best part was being entertained by the 3 month old Kyra. She was very talkative and really wanted to show off her pretty party dress. It was a late night as Bill and Shirley stayed until 1 am.

Christmas morning dawned with blue skies and temps above 20 degrees. I opened some new Canadian clothing (Olympic t-shirt and jumper) and various items in my stocking. Mom got a kookaburra statue for the garden and dad a sign for his garage (beer and bullshit corner). Later in the day we headed out to the farm to greet Nat who arrived that morning. She brought with her some goodies from my good friends at school. This included Tim Horton's coffee and mug, ketchup chips, and various items I can't get in Australia. There was even mixings for Caesars, but unfortunately the Clamato didn't make it through security. :-(

Christmas dinner was at Chris' (Nat's biyfriend) parents' house with his family and Nat's family. It was a full house and very loud. The dinner was amazing. There were six different meats (turkey, ham, chicken, lamb, beef and pork), roast pumpkin, potato and sweet potato, Caesar salad (my contribution) and lots of dessert. I got lots of gifts to remember my Christmas in Australia for years to come.

After dinner, we went looking at christmas lights. It always looks like they just forgot to take their lights down without the snow. In Australia they either have no lights or they go all out. On the way home, mom, dad and I stopped at the Guinness Book of World Record house that has the most Christmas lights. It's pretty intense.

Boxing day was more relaxing as mom, dad and I went for a walk around Lake Burley Griffen. The day after, Mom and Dad went to the Museum of Australia while I went and helped Nat move any items I missed into the new classroom (can't wait to come back and set that up :-P).

On the 28th we were on the road to Sydney. We took the scenic route and drove through some of the small towns between Canberra and Sydney. Mom and dad liked seeing a little. It of small town Australia.

We found our hotel in Sydney by 2:30 and were into Sydney CBD by 4. It was an interesting journey by bus and train but we got there. I took them down George street all the way to Circular Quay with some stops to do some shopping, including taking advantage of the sales at Lululemon.

We did a loop of Darling Harbour and then it was onto the best sight of all. The Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Mom was suitably impressed and has taken about 100 pictures of both since we've arrived. Not gonna lie, I've taken a few too.

By the time we saw the view from all angles, it was time to get back on the train, then the bus, then walk back to the hotel.

Yesterday we did the Harbour tour on the boat, getting to see the opera house from th Harbour side and viewing the muti-million dollar homes that line the Harbour on both sides. We also did a tour of the opera house and even got to go in the Concert Hall. Next, we went to the botanical gardens to scope out our New Years seating area and make a plan to get the best seats for the fireworks tomorrow.

Today we went up Sydney tower to get a bird's eye view. Mom really enjoyed getting a 360 view of the parts of Sydney we haven't been to yet. Next, we went down to the Rocks for a walking tour and some shopping. We learned about the early history of Sydney and the impact of the convicts, soldiers and settlers to the new colony. It's amazing how much things have changed in 200 years. Finally, we walked up the Harbour Bridge Pylons. The view was amazing and may have actually been better than the Bridge Climb I did two years ago. The picture I got was definitely better as the opera house actually made it. We had a fantastic dinner at Lowenbrau in the Rocks. Dad swears the pork knuckle and sauerkraut is some of the best he ever had (sorry Grandma). Now we are sitting in the hotel room preparing for our day in the botanical garden to wait for the fireworks. The pictures in the next couple of days should show how successful we were in getting prime spots to view them.

Happy New Year everyone!