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So... this is Christmas!
Awoke in our very lovely Coogee Crown Plaza hotel, courtesy of Chris. We have a gorgeous view of the beach (it has a balcony!!), and although it's initially overcast, the sun starts to peep out. We can also spot Chris' fishing club from our window. All in all, it's a 10/10 location. Seriously.
As it had been a stressful morning (haha), we relaxed by drinking Earl Grey and watching Ozzie Rules footy, before Alice helped make it more Christmassy by finding a Xmas music video channel. Much better!
Before the family events begin, Alex escaped to grab our coffee. Coogee beach was already packed, and the takeaway shops are doing a roaring business. As we move past noon, it's hot again - 24 degrees. Hello Australia.
Now the sun is out, the sea turns from a dullish grey to a radiant blue. It's actually incredible how quickly the colour deepens.
We then meet Christy's new man, Dan the builder, and head off together to our Christmas Day lunch with Chris' other close friend, Irene. When we arrive, we meet Irene's daughter, Alice, her boyfriend, as well as Irene's Ukrainian mother (who is 89. She was incredible for her age!!).
Irene had rustled up a Russian influenced Christmas meal for us... borsch, herring, caviar, fish (caught by Chris, obviously), king prawns... and TURKEY.
We sit all together outside on their communal rooftop terrace, and enjoy the fabulous views out over Bronte and Coogee beaches. There is lots of travelling advice from the Australians to us.. apparently we MUST go to Hobart, which is in Tasmania (possible), and Darwin (simply impossible, unless we want to burn all our cash!) It's definitely food for thought, especially as we're told that Adelaide is rather nondescript... but a Sydneyside would say that, wouldn't they?
They give us presents, which is wholly unnecessary (a couple of cute koala toys and some chocolate, if you must know!), and we give Chris & Christy our photo album present to them. It went down very well, and Chris was eager to tell everyone that he hadn't seen Mummy Fox since he was a ten year old boy.
Leaving Chris and Irene, we 'youngsters' drive back to the hotel to freshen up and hit Coogee beach! Now the sun is fully out, and the beach is absolutely packed, we can only wonder how busy Bondi beach must be in comparison. We sunbathe a little and go for a dip in the water, before calling it a day when it gets a little chilly.
To say going to the beach on Christmas Day was surreal is a monumental understatement. But there was a great mix of families, locals and backpacker party revellers. Something for everyone was going on.
We return to the hotel for tea and left over Christmas Eve & Christmas Day foods given to us by Irene and Keiko, before exploring Coogee beach a little during sunset. We return home to watch Sleepless in Seattle in our room.
Thus concludes a very different, summer, Christmas!
AF
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