Sunday 4 January 2009

Christmas Australian Style (at the beach)

And so finally to our Christmas at the seaside. I finished sewing, washing, wrapping and packing just in time for S to try and cram it all (and a swing) in the car. Luckily we no longer travel in the Echo but in the 'beast' so there was room...just. Taking into account the giving of presents (and of course any subsequent receivals of gifts) we would be fine. Nobody breathe out.
We did the drive to Terrigal in one hit, pretty much bypassing Sydney. We toughed it out till Sutton's Forest where we stopped at Maccas. Once I discovered I did not have a rare foot disease just had my thongs on the wrong feet we were right. Jack had his first happy meal (I suppose it's silly for me to claim it was a healthier version because he drank water with his meal) and barked at a dog through a nice thick glass window. He thought this was a hoot. Needless to say the dog did not.

We got to Terrigal (thank god we weren't staying in Gosford though doesn't Iguanas look tempting for a quiet night out?) in time for Jack and S to settle in and for me to buy some new board shorts (because lordy me I don't need to put these pollywaffle thighs on display) and swimmers. I went to a shop that came highly recommended but there was an awful lot of padding and beads and well..bling which is okay on the beach in Rimini (teamed with high heels) but I was thinking ahead to upcoming swimming lessons at Junee Pool. The woman kept trying to put me in very small swimmers even though I assured her I was a larger size (she was doing it to another woman too) but really the things were so small they looked like a g-string and not a brief. So I headed to another shop where once I sorted out which was the right section I was fine (Repeat after me I am not a teenage boy...). Again a bit of bling and beads but once I told the woman I didn't want to look like mutton and that a strapless cossie (with a wriggling toddler) was a bad idea we did okay. I headed back to the hotel for fish and chips with my parents and a glass of Jansz.
The next day the entire family met up at breakfast and then we went across to the beach. It was overcast but not cold so Jack and Scarlett had a run around on the sand. Jack was keen to chase seagulls (makes a change from galahs here) and run into the waves. I thought he might think that was scary or cold but he thought it was great fun. My pants dried eventually.After our trip to the beach, Mum and Lou and I got together for our beauty treatments. Lou and I had a superhydrating wrap with pomegranates or something. The blurb made it sound like a cocktail but what it was was sticky and I kept getting stuck to the towels, which is tricky when you're trying to roll over. The less I say about the paper g-string the better I think, but it was very relaxing and I did feel very hydrated afterwards. And then we all had a pedi as a tribute to Garn who looked lovely when her toenails were painted (pink, of course). My grandfather accused her of having her toenails done to attract the menfolk.
That night Mum and Dad were on grandparent duty as Lou, Craig, S and I went for a very civilised meal at Bells at Kilcare. It's Steve Manfredi's latest restaurant and it was very good. Full of good food and wine we dashed home before we turned into pumpkins, whisked our sleeping babes into their portacots and collapsed into bed.

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