Christmas in Sydney

Hello everyone

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are now gearing up for the New Year celebrations. We are already getting ready for a big New Year's Eve party in Sydney harbour and have picked out a spot right under the bridge, adjacent to the opera house. Think we will need to arrive by about midday to ensure we get a good position though as the whole place is likely to be packed to the rafters.
Anyway, that's enough about New Year for now. Christmas has come and gone in the blinking of an eye. The build up was very very strange, light nights, warm sunny days and a distinct palpable lack of normal festive cheer. Aussies certainly seem to do the Christmas thing in a rather more low key manner than us Poms. Even the shops seemed quiet on Christmas Eve.
We knew Christmas Day would be very different for us and it certainly proved that way. The weather was bright and I spent part of the morning swimming in the rooftop pool at our city apartment. Fiona ( her mother's daughter ) was cracking on with preparations for a wonderful Christmas dinner.....turkey and ALL the trimmings. Different maybe...but some things simply have to remain normal. After a few hours slaving in the kitchen, the feast was ready and I must say.....mum, Teresa.....I think she actually exceded all Christmas dinners past. No longer just comis chef in charge of fancy starters but now she would give Delia and that bloke Ramsey a run for their money. That said the seafood starter was fantastic.....I can actually lay claim to placing the prawns in the very decorative manner you see in the picture above....but that's about where my role ended!!! With full tummy's and the usual collection of trashy Christmas telly on the box, we chilled for the remainder of the day and played with Christmas pressies from each other and from home. The 'putting on as many pairs of socks as possible' game, proved to be most entertaining as the pictures testify.
It was wonderful to speak to loved ones and family back home and although we missed everyone loads, we were happy knowing that back home Christmas seemed to retain its usual flavour. We certainly hope that you all had a lovely day too.
Boxing Day was a more sociable day and we went down to the harbour for the start of the Sydney to Hobart annual yacht race. We proceded to sit in the sun ( Fiona in the shade ) for a full two hours waiting for the boats to dash past only to discover the race began from the next bay up the harbour.....doh!!!! Anyhow, we had been joined by Matt, Jo, Lucy and Sophie and more friends and proceded to party back at our apartment for the remainder of the day. Wine flowed and the usual assortment of charades, triv and karaoke silly games ensued and before we knew it, it was approaching midnight and the girls were dashing to catch the last ferry back to Manly. A really fun day...always did prefer Boxing Day!!!!
Since then, the sun has continued to shine and we have ventured to the sales and picked up a few bargains...I even considered the purchase of an Australian cricket shirt. It was in the sale but I physically couldn't allow myself to do it. Fiona was disgusted that I even thought about it, telling me I had no patriotism and basically blaming me and my treason for England's sad demise. We have also sat at Circular Quay by the bridge watching the cricket on a giant screen in the park. Long day's in the sun.....and shade!!!
Anyway, we should sign off now as we are heading for more cricket in the park....England currently batting, so should prove entertaining!
Enjoy the rest of the season's festivities and have a wonderful New Year
We hope you enjoy the pictures

All our love

Phil and Fiona
xxx