Christmas in Oz

Traditionally, Australians awake early Christmas morning and head to the beach donning their Santa hats. It is unofficially the first beach day of the year. When everyone has had enough of the sun, they make their way back home where they feast of seafood. Steph and I decided to start a Christmas tradition of our own. We slept in, exchanged gifts, and made a special Christmas brunch. For the sake of tradition, the breakfast must be a brie omelette with optional ingredients. This year we shared a bacon brie omelette, a blueberry and apple brie omelette, and an avocado and lobster brie omelette. Yummy!

The Hairsine Family Branch. This is a simplified version of a portion of
the Hairsine family tree. It is intended to convey the relation between
myself and those who attended the Australian Christmas party.

After enjoying our Christmas brunch, it was time to start preparing for Mike and Anne’s Christmas festivities. We arrived shortly after 16:00 and met the rest of the Hairsine clan (I’ve included a compilation of the Hairsine family branch for your reference). All of the grand kids were between 1-3 years of age. Kate and Jake had travelled from Germany to spend 5 weeks with the family over the holidays. Jake was especially excited to take advantage of the warm weather. Before leaving Germany, he had repeatedly asked Kate if it would be alright if he didn’t wear clothes once in Australia. She acceded to his demands. She, along with the rest of us, quickly realized that he wasn’t bluffing. The little nudest only put on his clothes for dinner.

While last minute dinner preparations were being made, everyone had the chance to get to know one another and cool off in the pool. Kate, Peter, and Lisa (Peter’s wife) were very forthcoming about sites that we needed to visit and activities that we needed to try. It was information overload. The common denominator was that the sites and activities were only accessible by car. Pete and Lisa were very generous in offering to lend us their car under the pretence that we would spend a weekend learning how to surf. Deal. Although, upon further reflection, I have a sneaky suspicion that this favour may be repaid by babysitting responsibilities. I guess that’s fair.

On Christmas eve the kids had left some snacks for Santa at the end of the driveway (most houses in Perth don't have fireplaces). Before dinner was served, the family gathered around the tree to exchange gifts. Mike asked the kids if Santa had enjoyed the treats that they had left for him. The innocent reply: “He ate most of the cookies, drank all of the beer, and left the water.” This brought a smile to everyone’s face. Pete and Lisa were kind enough to sneak a box of chocolates underneath the tree for Steph and I. Those won't last long.

Dinner was delicious! Because of Mike’s strong English roots, he was insistent that the main course consist of turkey, rather than seafood, and for dessert to be English pudding with tea. We didn’t have a choice, nor did we have any objection. Conversation continued late into the evening until our bellies were content, and the kids tired. Eventually it became time to wrap up another wonderful Christmas. Steph and I extend our sincere thanks to the Hairsine’s for sharing their Christmas festivities with us.