White Christmas

I was dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know... but we will come to that. After a four hour flight from Perth in which I was stuck by the window next to the worst case of obesity I've ever encountered, his folds were encroaching on my personal space above and even below the arm rest. This I could put up with but then he started snoring, the loudest rumbling possible by a human, each inhalation was like a mini-earthquake. So much so that I got many pitying smirks from the other passengers. After arriving in Sydney and finding accomodation to be prohibitively expensive over Christmas and New Year, I ventured out of the city and have found a place in Manly. It is a half-hour ferry ride from central Sydney and the ferry itself affords the some of the best views of Sydney's Harbour Bridge and its Opera House.

Manly itself is a great base with my hostel being only one hundred metres from the beach, which is filled with surfers and volleyball courts but of course the majority of people are just lazing around. Been able to do some great snorkeling here as well. The beach is lined with lots of bars and restaurants which run along side a promenade and have spent most of the build up to Christmas frequenting these and catching up with friends both old and new.

When Christmas day did arrive as expected it was not white but unexpectedly it was overcast and grey. Was able to make it to the beach in the morning and watched a lot of surfers getting to grips with their brand new boards. But then the torrential rain came and did not cease for the rest of the day. Luckily we had decided upon a traditional British dinner instead of a typical Aussie barbecue. And in amongst all the drugged up chavs (I am pretty certain a few people had cocaine for their Christmas dinner, followed by ecstacy for pudding), I managed to find a great bunch of people to spend the day with, including a few talented cooks and who did themselves proud and whipped up two massive turkeys with all the trimmings. It was remarkably similar to a Christmas day back home as everyone ate too much and asleep in front of the TV.

On boxing day went to Watson's Bay and watched the start of the iconic Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, which was a real spectacle. Never seen so many vessels all cramped together, and initially did think the powerboats had an unfair advantage until we realised that these were merely spectators racing along side the course rather than actual competitors. From there went to Bondi and spent the remainder of the day supping schooners of beers and had a bargain $10 steak which was divine.
In movie news, just been see Avatar and was struck by the remarkable resemblance between its star Sam Worthington and footballing genius and general great guy Xabi Alonso - I have certainly never seen them in the same room together!?! And if watching a film with a Xabi Alonso lookalike was not enough, they sell the greatest ice cream known to man over here - The Maxibon. It was a sad day a couple of years ago when they stopped retailing in the UK, but it was trully great to bump into such an old and trusted friend over here.