Typically German and typically Australian - the days before Christmas

The 23rd of December started for us in a very typical German way: baking cookies! We spent the whole morning making vanilla crescents and butter cookies, and the vanilla crescents turned out better than expected. The dough was quite hard after a night in the fridge, but it quickly softened in our hands as we shaped it. I was worried that the crescents would melt in the oven like pure butter and we would end up with shapeless, flat "crescents", but they didn't look that bad. The process was quite laborious though. Making the butter cookies was more fun because we prepared the dough more intuitively and got the consistency right.

For lunch, we had bread rolls, ham, and cheese to keep us energized, and then Andi, I, Steve, and Patrick, who came over specially, drove to the Royal National Park. It is the first and oldest national park in Australia and is located directly south of the city. It's usually very crowded on weekends, as many city dwellers like to relax on the beaches or go bushwalking in the forests, but during the week it's quieter. The park is also huge and probably looks similar to how Sydney looked when Captain Cook first arrived. We first went to Bundeena, a small town directly across from Cronulla on the other side of the water. There is a ferry that takes you there in 20 minutes, but by car, it takes one hour via the winding roads of the national park. It must be idyllic to live there, but Patrick told me that some of his classmates used to be late or not come to school at all because the ferry didn't run due to too much wind or other reasons. That's not exactly ideal!

After Bundeena, we went to Wattamolla, a place where a waterfall flows into a small river, which then flows over a large sandbank into the sea. Unfortunately, the waterfall wasn't flowing at the moment, but the scenery was still beautiful and there were quite a few people there. It must be nice to swim there! As a little update, I found out the day before yesterday that someone drowned there the next day because he was apparently drunk in the water. Creepy...

Steve and Patrick then chose The Bald Hill Lookout as our next spot. It is a hill right by the sea, from where you can see the entire coastline down to Wollongong in the south. The view from there is really beautiful! After the lookout, we went to Kellys Falls, the last spot for this afternoon. The Kellys Falls are actually a very high waterfall, but apparently you would have to hike quite a distance to get a good view of it. We stood at the top of the waterfall, but because of the rocks and vegetation, we couldn't see anything. I also didn't dare to go too close to the edge because I'm always afraid that the rock I'm standing on will collapse. It's not a coincidence that there are fences in front of the cliffs, but because Steve said they weren't there when he used to go there as a child, the boys just climbed over them. Well, the view over the national park from there was absolutely breathtaking, so this trip was still worth it.

Back in Cronulla, Patrick, Andi, and I quickly got ready to leave because we were invited to a Christmas party at 6, hosted by one of Patrick's friends, and Andi and I were also invited. The friend's name was Jaye, and she lived with her boyfriend in the next suburb. We were the third group to arrive at the party, and Jaye immediately handed us a Christmas card, wishing us Merry Christmas and thanking us for coming. How nice is that, she didn't even know us! We were really pleased and felt very welcome. The other guests were also very nice, and we had great conversations. In total, there were eight of us at the party, and Jaye had ordered Thai food for dinner. The dishes were placed in the middle of the table, and everyone could take what they wanted. It was delicious!

But before dinner, we cracked open our Christmas crackers. These are paper tubes with jokes, paper crowns, and cheap or expensive toys, depending on the price range, just like the ones we sometimes have for New Year's Eve. Two guests each grab one end and pull. The winner gets the cracker. We had so many crackers that each of us had two on our plate, and in the end, two people with three crowns each had won the most crackers: Michelle and I. Yeah :D The others had to explain some of the jokes to us because we didn't understand some of the words, but some of the jokes just weren't funny.

After dinner, we took a walk through the neighborhood because during the Christmas season, there is a very special street. Every house there is decorated with Christmas lights and there are the craziest light figures and decorations. I couldn't believe what I saw when we arrived. It was so crazy!! There were fairy lights in all colors and blinking patterns, grazing reindeer, stars, life-sized inflatable Santas, laser shows on the house walls, and the highlight was a "snow cannon" that sprayed foam. In addition to the whole light show, the kids had blocked off the street, riding their bikes there, and all the residents were outside drinking beer or wine, so the whole street was one big party. It was so cool! I had never seen anything like it. In Germany, Christmas is cold, so people don't like to spend too much time outside or prefer to go to the Christmas market for a drink. But here, it was like a beautiful summer night street party. There was so much to discover, everyone was really nice, and there were quite a few "tourists" who came to see the spectacle.

After we had enough of all the blinking lights, we walked back home, and there we had dessert. Blueberry Christmas pudding with vanilla sauce, Oreo and vanilla ice cream, and a Christmas cake from the neighbor. Yummy yummy. After that, we were all a little sleepy, so we snuggled up in front of the TV and watched two episodes of the police comedy series "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," which is quite popular in Australia. It was funny, even though we didn't understand every word and therefore missed some of the jokes :D

At around half past midnight, Patrick ordered us an Uber taxi (and paid for it!) and we were driven home. We could have taken the train, but Patrick took care of everything and organized it for us. We arrived back home at 1 o'clock and went straight to bed because we were really tired.

The next morning, on the 24th of December, our cookie marathon continued and we decorated the honey cakes and butter cookies and baked nut crescents. Sue and Steve couldn't believe how much time we spent in the kitchen baking :D But after they tried some broken cookies, they didn't complain anymore because they tasted really good. Thank goodness!

For lunch, we had bread, cheese, and ham again, and then Steve drove me to the doctor. I had been having problems with my right eye for a while and hadn't been wearing contact lenses for a long time, so I finally wanted to get it checked. It was really nice of him to drive me and help me with the doctor's visit because I didn't know how things worked in Australia. I had to pay 70$ in cash to see a doctor, and I can get the money back from my insurance later. As I had feared, the doctor diagnosed me with conjunctivitis and prescribed eye drops. I was glad that we didn't have to wait long at the doctor's and that Steve waited for me outside the treatment room; otherwise, I would have had to take the train home. So we drove back together in the car, and after 1 hour, we were back at the apartment. I could have imagined something nicer than going to the doctor on Christmas, but at least it was finally taken care of. It would be nice to wear contact lenses again on New Year's Eve.

Back in Cronulla, Steve, Andi, and I went to the beach for a swim. There is a natural pool there, which is actually just a rectangular area separated by rocks in the sea, but it's better for swimming than the open sea because the water is calmer. The water itself was really cold, but still refreshing, and we swam a few laps. It was really something completely different: swimming in the sea on Christmas!

Soon after we returned, Patrick came over and dinner was served because we were invited to friends of Steve and Sue at 7. This time, we had seafood again, but not oysters, but freshly thawed shrimp. It was much better! The shrimp were pre-cooked and from the seafood market where they had been on Wednesday. We ate them cold, drizzled with fresh lemon juice, and with white bread. It was my first time trying it like this, but I really liked it! The shrimp were just a sample for the real Christmas dinner the next day, and from that point on, we were really looking forward to it. After the shrimp, there were 3 pizzas to satisfy our hunger, but after that, we were really full.

The acquaintances of Sue and Steve also lived in Cronulla, but at the other end, so we had to take a walk there. But since we could walk along the esplanade, it didn't feel like a long way. At their place, we had a few drinks, ate snacks, and chatted. They had a really huge house with a pool and everything! Unfortunately, the guests were all from the older generation, and we didn't really connect with them, so we didn't talk much and it quickly became boring. We were quite relieved when we left at around 10.

So that was our Christmas Eve! It was a bit different than usual, but the real Christmas in Australia is on the 25th. It was strange to see that Australians also like to celebrate Christmas with friends and not just with family, as we are used to in Germany. Christmas parties are also common, and there aren't many "quiet" times. I think it's simply because of the warm weather, people are more in a party mood and don't want to stay at home. We were definitely excited about Christmas Day!