Christmas and New Year

Christmas was relatively uneventful and quiet for us. A few days prior, we were taken out to dinner by friends to the Ulladulla Guesthouse restaurant where we had fresh seafood entrees, great steak mains and a “naughty” chocolate dessert all washed down with good wine.
On Christmas Eve we were invited over to our neighbours for a bar b q. We had a fun night with lot of stories and jokes and a good old sing along to old Elvis and Beatle records. Yes, records! You remember them. Big black round things with holes in the middle.
Christmas day turned out to be warm, still, sunny and cloudless. About as perfect as a south coast day can be. After opening our presents, we headed for the beach and had a long swim in the warm water. The cold current of a few weeks ago had decided to move out to sea for the festive season.

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, waiting!
For lunch we indulged in a seafood feast of local Clyde River oysters, crayfish (lobster), Balmain bugs and freshly bar b q’d prawns. This was washed down with cold bottles of Australian sparkling white wine (we are not allowed to call it Champagne any more) and New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
This was followed up with traditional plum pudding, custard and ice cream.
As usual, we ate too much and napped the afternoon away.

Balmain Bugs and Crayfish (Lobster)
New Year’s Eve was a low key affair. Another seafood and wine feast and early to bed.
New Year’s Day was a scorcher. The temperature reached 44C (110F) with a howling northwest wind that felt like a blast furnace. This is typical bush fire weather and we were lucky no incidents eventuated in our area. There were, however, some property losses out west and on the central coast. There was nothing for us to do except sit around and try to keep cool. It was even too hot to go down to the beach but finally we succumbed. The water was freezing (air/water temperature difference) but refreshing and the waves were really good for body surfing.
While we were there the expected southerly change hit with gale force. This caused a mass evacuation of the beach but in an hour the temperature had dropped by 20 degrees. Then, even better, the rain came.

After the Storm
Our area is inundated with tourists this time of the year. The population quadruples for the six weeks of summer holidays. The beaches, roads and town are crowded and chaotic. We try to keep a low profile and wait patiently until February when we can reclaim our patch.
A happy, healthy and prosperous 2006 everyone!