Christmas in a different way

Christmas at the beach, who doesn't dream of that? I mean, it's nice. Warm, 35°C and cozy lying on the beach. But for me, Christmas means sitting together with the family, enjoying delicious food, having a drink or two, and freezing as soon as you go outside. So there was no Christmas atmosphere to be seen anywhere. Maybe it was for the best. I didn't miss home at all.

I spent the few days before Christmas exploring the surroundings and doing nothing and watching TV. It's nice to see and be on the go all the time. But I definitely can't do that for 10 months. So sometimes it's best to relax, do nothing. In the apartment, we have a big TV with pay-TV. Lots of movies that you can also record and watch later.

Several girls live in the apartment and two of them are traveling over Christmas and New Year's Eve, so they rented out their rooms to us. Small room with two beds, but it's more than enough. I'm here with Anna. She's friends with one of Lena's friends and she gave her my number. That's how we got in touch and decided to spend Christmas and New Year's Eve together. On Christmas Eve, we went shopping for our Christmas dinner. The opening hours here in Australia are a bit different. The supermarket around the corner is open every day from 6:00 to 24:00 and on Christmas only closed completely on the 1st public holiday.
Our Christmas dinner consisted of chicken curry with rice and salad. For a backpacker meal, it was pretty good, as meat is usually a bit too expensive for us penny pinchers. But Christmas is something special.

Since we also have Wi-Fi in the apartment, I took the opportunity to Skype with my family. Even then, it didn't feel like Christmas.

But I did receive a gift. As soon as I'm back home, Lena, two of her friends, and I are going to London for the Harry Potter Studio Tour.

On the 1st public holiday, we went to the beach. Luckily, we were at the quieter part of the beach, because at 35°, nobody stays at home. We couldn't stay on the beach for long and had to go into the water. Most people sat in the water and chatted there. Despite the Santa hat, Christmas music, and Christmas tree on the beach, it still doesn't feel like Christmas and it never will.

I emptied my backpack a bit and sent a few things home because the backpack is clearly too heavy. I dropped off the package at the post office and the scale showed a proud 3 kg. It will be shipped by sea, which takes 3 months and is the cheapest way. But there is no tracking included in the price, so I have to hope that it arrives.

Of course, Melbourne also has a soccer stadium. Cricket and football are more popular here, but there is also soccer. I wanted to watch a game of the Melbourne City women's team. But right after that, the men played and one ticket was valid for both games. A full dose of Australian football. The stadium was almost empty for the women's game. It's usually not that crowded in Germany either. It started to fill up for the men's game, but there were still empty seats visible. I could simply buy the ticket shortly before at the ticket office, and if you are a club member, you can enter for free. You can tell that it's not as popular here as in Germany. But it's nice to see and have a soccer night.

For my return to the family in Willalooka, I decided to make school cones for the kids. Their summer holidays end at the end of January, and a new school year starts. Digby will also go to school for the first time. So I wanted to show them a bit of German tradition. They don't know school cones for the start of school here. That's why I went to downtown to buy a few things. Digby loves Dory from the movie Finding Dory, so his school cone is blue with Dory and Nemo. Bonnie wants to become a flight attendant later, and since she's a girl, I made her a pink school cone with an airplane and a flight attendant. Oscar is now going to an agricultural school, so his school cone is green with a tractor on it. Inside are some school supplies and sweets. Since I was afraid that they would get damaged during my bus ride, I decided to make the school cones on-site when the kids are not at home.

For New Year's Eve, our plan was initially to watch the fireworks from a park, but Anna has friends from Germany who live in a town just outside of Melbourne and suggested celebrating with them. We ate some finger food together and played beer pong. In the evening, we took the train to downtown and waited for the New Year in a bar. Public transportation is free on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Very advantageous for us.

By the time we got home, it was already starting to get light outside. But remember, we are in summer here and the sun rises at 6:00. So not like in Germany on New Year's Eve, which is later. :D

These were my first 3 months in Australia. My Australia in 2016. I saw a lot. More than half of Australia already, and I'm still here for a while. Nevertheless, it feels like I've been away from home for an eternity. Who knows what 2017 has in store for me.