Happy Christmas
I know I'm a few days early but as you'll all no doubt be heading off to various Christmas activities like sitting in front of big fires, holding hot water bottles and drinking strong spirits to keep warm I thought I'd send what I assume will be my last e-mail of 2004 and wish you all a very merry Christmas.
I have to admit it's a little odd being out here in the middle of a glorious summer and it being Christmas. I've done the festive season away from the UK before and very much enjoyed it but somehow France and Italy's location in the northern hemisphere makes it all rather different to being down here.
Even stranger than being able to surf in a pair of board shorts and a rash vest (ie not needing a wetsuit) the week before Christmas is the fact Australians seem to have the same picture book image of Christmas as we have in the northern hemisphere. There's fake snow painted on all the shop windows, fir trees in the streets (fake ones as it's so hot real ones would die in seconds) and pretty much every Christmas card I've seen has some winter scene pictured on it. Now I know most people out here come from the right side of the planet but still, really, it's a minimal of 36 degrees in the shade!
Given the heat it looks as if my Christmas will be spent eating barbequed food on a beach rather than the traditional roast and trimmings. I may also manage a quick Christmas surf as I've been doing rather a lot of it recently and even found time to be a bit of a hero a few weeks back and saved a young damsel in distress. Lauren (the damsel) was caught in a rather nasty rip off Manly Beach so yours truly did the noble thing of putting her on my board and ensuring her safe passage back to the beach, I’d tell you more but what with the bidding for the movie rights coming up and all…
Other big news is that as it is virtually Christmas and I have been surfing rather a lot I've given myself an early present and in the process blown much of my travel savings buying a new surfboard. At 7 feet and 1 inch tall, 20 inches wide and 2 5/8th thick she puts the old board to shame and as I got her on part exchange she was a bargain, I'll introduce you all to her some day, you'll love her!
In other news, with rather too much practice I'm getting fairly good at both goon poker and goon black jack. For those of you that don't know it, goon is virtually the only really cheap alcohol out here and come in foil bags and cardboard boxes with the claim it they contain wine. Unfortunately they also admit to containing both fish and milk amongst other ingredients which may explain why they really don't taste all that! Anyway, gambling for large quantities of the stuff (drinking if you loose, nominating others to if you win) has proved to be a very entertaining way to spend a not so quiet evening in while experiencing Australia's produce...
On eating, I've now eaten emu though only in jerky state, tasted fairly good but really must press on to have a steak of it. Apparently not allowed to eat Koala or wombat, now entirely sure why, something about endangered species or something. Thankfully I've now located a butchers that does emu and as an added bonus they have possum so some day soon ...
I've had rather a hard week of drinking these last seven days, the boys are over from London so I've been on the beers at rates not witnessed since Brisbane, and while they recover by sleeping all day I'm at work, d'oh!
And that's me, surfing, drinking and simply loving it. On boxing day I'll be hitting the road and heading for Melbourne before coming back for NYE in Sydney then I'll be looking for work in the CBD (central business district - city centre in Australian)
So that just leaves me to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Bye for 2004
Jonathan
Internet Café
Sydney CBD
Oz !
Ps, sorry such a long one, if anyone got here I use the excuse that it is Christmas!!!
TTFN, JP
I have to admit it's a little odd being out here in the middle of a glorious summer and it being Christmas. I've done the festive season away from the UK before and very much enjoyed it but somehow France and Italy's location in the northern hemisphere makes it all rather different to being down here.
Even stranger than being able to surf in a pair of board shorts and a rash vest (ie not needing a wetsuit) the week before Christmas is the fact Australians seem to have the same picture book image of Christmas as we have in the northern hemisphere. There's fake snow painted on all the shop windows, fir trees in the streets (fake ones as it's so hot real ones would die in seconds) and pretty much every Christmas card I've seen has some winter scene pictured on it. Now I know most people out here come from the right side of the planet but still, really, it's a minimal of 36 degrees in the shade!
Given the heat it looks as if my Christmas will be spent eating barbequed food on a beach rather than the traditional roast and trimmings. I may also manage a quick Christmas surf as I've been doing rather a lot of it recently and even found time to be a bit of a hero a few weeks back and saved a young damsel in distress. Lauren (the damsel) was caught in a rather nasty rip off Manly Beach so yours truly did the noble thing of putting her on my board and ensuring her safe passage back to the beach, I’d tell you more but what with the bidding for the movie rights coming up and all…
Other big news is that as it is virtually Christmas and I have been surfing rather a lot I've given myself an early present and in the process blown much of my travel savings buying a new surfboard. At 7 feet and 1 inch tall, 20 inches wide and 2 5/8th thick she puts the old board to shame and as I got her on part exchange she was a bargain, I'll introduce you all to her some day, you'll love her!
In other news, with rather too much practice I'm getting fairly good at both goon poker and goon black jack. For those of you that don't know it, goon is virtually the only really cheap alcohol out here and come in foil bags and cardboard boxes with the claim it they contain wine. Unfortunately they also admit to containing both fish and milk amongst other ingredients which may explain why they really don't taste all that! Anyway, gambling for large quantities of the stuff (drinking if you loose, nominating others to if you win) has proved to be a very entertaining way to spend a not so quiet evening in while experiencing Australia's produce...
On eating, I've now eaten emu though only in jerky state, tasted fairly good but really must press on to have a steak of it. Apparently not allowed to eat Koala or wombat, now entirely sure why, something about endangered species or something. Thankfully I've now located a butchers that does emu and as an added bonus they have possum so some day soon ...
I've had rather a hard week of drinking these last seven days, the boys are over from London so I've been on the beers at rates not witnessed since Brisbane, and while they recover by sleeping all day I'm at work, d'oh!
And that's me, surfing, drinking and simply loving it. On boxing day I'll be hitting the road and heading for Melbourne before coming back for NYE in Sydney then I'll be looking for work in the CBD (central business district - city centre in Australian)
So that just leaves me to wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Bye for 2004
Jonathan
Internet Café
Sydney CBD
Oz !
Ps, sorry such a long one, if anyone got here I use the excuse that it is Christmas!!!
TTFN, JP
posted by JP at 1:50 am
