Hi everyone,Well I know it's been a while since we have updated you on life in Sydney - We will write again real soon about Christmas but thought we would just do a quick update with the lead up to Chrimbo. As you will see, it basically involves a lot of drinking, more drinking and then just a little bit more drinking.....first stop the races!!!!! On Saturday 1st December (after I had rushed down the road to speak to Linz on skype to say happy birthday) we got dressed up in our posh frocks and best shoes as we were heading to Randwick race course here in Sydney for a day at the races. This was a particularly special race meeting as there has been an epidemic of horse flu here in New South Wales which has meant all the racing has been cancelled. Thankfully they have been given the all clear and the races could begin. So dressed in our best outfits, we headed to a local bar to meet up with our flatmates Phil and Dino plus some of their other mates that live 2 floors down from us in our apartment block. My friend Laura and some of her friends plus my friend Shaz also came with us so in total there was about 25 of us. After a few glasses of bubberly, we made our way to the race course. We found a spot to all congregate and we headed off to make our bets and get some more champers in.....that was a our base for the afternoon. It was such a brilliant day, everyone got on really well and we had a good laugh. Lots and lots of drinks flowed and lots of silly behaviour, as you would expect. It was Chris' birthday so we made sure we sang a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' to him. As for winning any cash, Laura decided to bet on a horse named 'Laura's Charm' and you guessed it, it won! I think she did the best out of all of us but after a while we were all too drunk to realise what we were betting on!!! After the races had finished, we all piled on a bus (still singing happy birthday and some other songs - those poor other people on the bus with us!!) and we headed to our local pub for some more drinks...it was only supposed to be for a couple before heading into the city however, we never quite made it that far and ended up staying there all evening....there were definitely a few sore heads the next day!!!Now being in Australia, we decided that we really should crack on with have a few traditional aussie barbeques - so a few days later Dino bought a bbq and everyone came up to our apartment with some burgers and sausages plus some drinks and we had our first aussie barby - mmm!! Having everyone over for the barby then started a bit of tradition with us taking it turns to cook for each other. Sean was bragging about how good his lasagne was, so we took him up on his offer and he cooked it for all of us.....yes Sean it was very nice!!!!!So firmly into the Christmas silly season, I was lucky enough to be invited to quite a few work christmas parties. There always seemed to be something going on. The best one though we the official company do. It was held in Darling Harbour in the Convention Centre for everyone based in New South Wales, which was a total of about 1500 people. The theme was "a Night with the Stars" and it was a sit down meal. Everyone dressed up in their best posh frocks. Some people dressed as movie stars and one guy in my team decided to dress up in drag. He originally said it for a joke but then everyone said that he should so he decided to do it for charity. In 3 days he raised over $2500 and at the party the CEO got him up on the stage and congratulated him for his efforts plus generously donated $1000 out of his own pocket! It was a wicked night and probably one of the best Christmas parties I have been to. There was even a Kylie Minogue impersonator and a live band. El vino was flowing big time and I have to say the whole night is a little bit hazy!!!Carly also had a few christmas parties, one at her boss' house and another was supposed to sailing around Sydney harbour, however the weather wasn't really the best that day, in fact there was hail and everything - not great for being on a boat so it just stay moored in the harbour most of the time....still she had a good time none the less.Well folks, there are probably other nights of merriment that I have forgotten about but I can't remember.....!We have been to the beach a few times plus done all our Christmas shopping so it's not just been about drinking!!Right that's all for now, we'll be back soon to share our Christmas down under with you.....Lots of love and we miss you loadsClaire and Carly xxxxxxxxxx