Christmas in Hawk's Nest

Christmas in Australia is a strange affair. With a majority of Australians able to trace their ancestry back to the UK, or Europe certainly, Christmas still has the European feel to it. Fat blokes in warm red suits, snow, reindeer, that sort of thing. But usually the temperature outside is close to 40 degrees, and a roast dinner is the last thing on people's minds. Many Australians spend Christmas on the beach, which in the UK is the reserve of those nutcases who go swimming in the Serpentine on New Year's Day.

Elissa and I joined Emma and Iain, and Elissa and Emma's parents at their place in Hawks Nest. The few days around Christmas consisted of swimming in the ocean, fishing, playing golf, having a barbecue, and playing a lot of board games. The Game Of Life turned out to be much more boring than life itself. Rummikub and Uno were played quite a bit. We toyed with a round of Trivial Pursuit, but decided against it in the end. And everyone helped Elissa and me get ready for the huge road trip we were about to embark on.

Elissa's family were very welcoming - I think they're getting used to me now - and Vivienne had found me an excellent present, a jazz CD by a well-known Aussie. I felt as at home as I could, 12,000 miles from my friends and family.

On the last night in Hawks Nest we even tried sleeping in the tent in the garden. It was a bad idea. The local wildlife was particularly noisy, and it was a full moon, so most of them thought it was dawn all night. Kookaburras make a lot of noise when they think it's dawn. When dawn finally came they seemed to make a it of extra effort. Elissa and I retreated into the house and managed to grab three hours' sleep.