ChristmasByTheBeach

A bright light shone through the little lounge window, “Santa’s sleigh?!” I thought. It was just the sunlight creeping in and awaking me from my peaceful sleep.
The reaction from the previous night of frowny faces told me the movie Elf would not be part of our Christmas Day festivities so I watched it before everyone was up. Well, I watched some of it, I slept through most of it if I’m honest!

When I woke up the second time Dad and Berry were coming through to make coffee. As I got up to give them a Christmas hug I saw there was a stocking with the letter J on it! "He’s been!" I yelled.
I took the little stocking in my arms and sat it in my lap like the 5 year old child I am. Impatience coursed through my veins as I waited for Ocea and Simon to appear. Maybe I could “accidentally” drop something loudly and they’ll wake up, maybe they would want to be woken up with a cup of coffee and a Christmas carol? I thought.

As I began to warm my voice up in order to perform Silent Night, they appeared in the living room and wished everyone a Merry Christmas. We sat together with tea and coffee as I opened my stocking from Santa! He knew just what I needed. A water bottle, eye mask and new sketch pencils were just a couple of the gifts in my stocking.

My next present was a Royal Mail box from my family in England. They had filled it full of chocolates, photos, jewellery and lots of cute bits and bobs.
Amongst the photos was a picture of my brother Sean’s work headshot- looking stern and serious. On the back a note read,

Dear Julie,
I'm sure it's been difficult to enjoy your travels whilst missing your dear brother so much. I hope this delightful mugshot will ease the pangs of yearning.
All the best and kindest regards,
Sean
Inside was also a card from my Paigey! She had drawn two broken hearts. One of me in “Ostralia” and one of her in England. With a full heart with the two of us together. Beneath it was a picture of her crying saying ‘I miss you!’ I couldn’t help the tears that welled in my eyes. Leaving her has been the hardest part of my journey and I knew that she was missing me too!

After breakfast we all headed down to have a coffee on the beach. The drizzle and grey skies reminded me of being back in England but the temperature was still warm enough to sit outside for tea and coffee. Once the rain stopped we posed on the beach for our Christmas photo. James had also joined us by then too.

Once we had returned to the flat, Elf went back on the TV and lunch was beginning to be prepared. Lots of chopping and boiling occurred in the kitchen while James and I did the table. I had previously done

name places for everyone with an Australian animal and a country flag that linked to them. James folded napkins into Christmas trees and we crowded the table with glasses and cutlery.

Aussi tradition is to have fish on the barbie but we had lamb and ham instead with roast potatoes and a vegetable salad. It was yummy!! After dinner we all waddled to the sofas to exchange secret Santa presents. I got a paint your own reindeer and a lovely new bag with a photo of the watch I should have had if it had arrived in Singapore on time!

Everyone was happy with their gifts and even happier when pudding

was then served. Ocea had made a Christmas mince wreath with filo pastry. (Similar to mince pies but tastes much nicer!) it was beautifully decorated with green herbs and plaited to perfection!

Too full to do much else, we sat chatting together with Christmas music in the background. As all of us sat, bloated and tired, we decided it would be good to go for a walk. As we were ready, my family in the UK messaged to say they were free to FaceTime so I phoned them eagerly- pushing the walk aside. It was so lovely to chat to everyone and hear their plans for the day. Paige showed me her new gift from me which was a gum ball machine that she chose and showed me twice that it worked so she could cram gum balls into her mouth! Ivy was also looking gorgeous in her little Christmas outfit and Harry popped his head in to say hi too! I think even Dylan and Toby made an appearance so I could see all my nieces and nephews!

The idea of a walk diminished as we watched Trevor Noah (a South African comedian)’s stand up show on Netflix and began to stuff ourselves even more with cheese and chocolate! It is safe to say that I was in need of a major diet after Christmas Day!