Another year, another Christmas Eve – and here, we are all excited about Santa’s imminent arrival, and hoping he can find his way to Wollongong. The chestnuts are roasting on the open fire; the tree lights are twinkling; and outside the world is dusted with frost. Not!
Our Christmas Eve has been very different this year. First of all, it was another very smoky morning from the bushfires, but also very warm. Grandad went to collect our Christmas dinner from the fishmongers – lots of Australian seafood. Then we drove off to a wildlife park in the bush, where James and Daniel fed kangaroos, saw a mother koala with a baby on her back, watched a cheeky white cockatoo steal someone’s picnic, and to their utmost delight, saw a cassowary eat its own poo! (Quite normal, apparently!)
No ginger wine and Carols from Kings for us this year (in fact, if we want to listen to the Carols from Kings, we’ll have to get up at 4am tomorrow morning). Instead, we walked by the beach – and the pelicans performed an aerial show for us: wheeling and gliding high in the sky, then swooping right in front of us, and back to a formation of seven, flying in harmony. And as we were leaving the harbour, one pelican obliged by fishing for its food, scooping up the food out of the water with its huge beak.
A lovely day (though it really does not feel like Christmas!)
Nana Down Under 