Christmas

My first Christmas in Sydney was spent on the beach and shared with (some of) the Lufbrats - Bop, Andy Brown, CJ, Howie and Lisa. Add me, Oz, Beth, Hels and Kate and you have a very Pommie Xmas. I'm not sure what Christy thought of it all but she went along with it. 


The Lufbra crew flew in a few days before Christmas and I think we accommodated them all by me moving into Christy's place and Hels and Kate moving out to a place in Kirribilli for a few weeks. It's possible that Howie and Lisa had somewhere with a bit more privacy as well. It was just like our communal digs at lufbra - Andy Brown's famous mega pot of chilli con carne, Howie's pancakes and the dessert co-operative's (me and bop) mega xmas trifle. Ah, the trifle. We discovered that Bird's Trifle was not sold in Sydney so we figured we could easily find independent ingredients and make it anyway. Jelly, custard, whipping cream, hundreds and thousands - can't be that hard. The biggest problem came when the whipping cream refused to whip. We ended up with a big bowl of slushy ingredients that slopped together. It still tasted the same.

The traditional day 1 fry-up of lilywhite poms with no sun-tan  cream. I warned them.

The flag that I picked up in Tokyo and the girl I picked up in Sydney !!

There was plenty of basic Sydney tourism - the Bridge, the Opera House, the Rocks, the pubs in the Rocks, the pubs in the City, the pubs in North Sydney etc. 



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Xmas day was a mammoth effort down at Balmoral Beach. The weather was fantastic, we were there early to stake a space and the whole day was spent eating, drinking, swimming, playing beach cricket, playing head tennis and generally having a fantastic time.

Xmas Day frolics on Balmoral Beach

The Bowler's Holding, the Batsman's Willey

Gaz and Oz set world head tennis record  (on Xmas  Day, in the  sea, near a shark net)

The days between Christmas and New Year were spent drinking, visiting Waratah Park (home of Skippy), BBQing in the local park and generally having a fantastic time.

BBQ time

The start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race

I'm sure the Beatles did this

Rod Hull ?

What's that  you say Skippy ? Get lost Brummie  git.

New Year was spent at a party at Sarah's unit - on the harbourside directly opposite the Opera House and a large trifle away from the Bridge. Lisa threw a wobbler because she was terrified of heights and lost us as we walked over the Bridge to Sarah's place and Kate hyper-ventilated while sitting on the sill of the open window four floors up. Other than that and the massive firework show not much happened that evening.


In the new year the group gradually split up. Hels and Kate headed off travelling in early Jan. Howie, Lisa, Bop and CJ headed back to UK and Andy Brown hung around for a little longer (and more of this later).

Australia v India Test

If was fun - we should do it again sometime. 


I SAID - WE SHOULD DO IT AGAIN SOMETIME !!!!