Have yourself a Merry little Christmas...

So we continued with the doing nothing for several weeks in order to put some money aside...our favourite activity being watching the roof leak when it rained...luckily there was plenty of rain to keep us entertained! We also, in order to make our room a little more homely we replaced the 1000watt lightbulb they placed in our room making me and Amy look like blotchy ghosts - we downgraded to a 60watt in the hope of looking more attractive! We had momentary escapes like when Mac and Cheese (Sam) came to Sydney for a few days from Melbourne and we met up with them and went to Manly beach for the day...and the few occasions when being in the house is just too much so going out for some beverages is the only option...I think between me, Amy and Alison we have managed to terrorise at least half the population of the Coogee Bay Hotel...sorry folks :) I have also become a puzzle geek - or maybe the puzzle geek in me has finally been let loose (Crazy for you :)

Rand(y)wick is the sort of town you imagine that nothing happens in...but rumour has it that someone got shot in the butt-ock (Forest Gump stylee) a few months ago and we saw a car on fire and we were victims of a drive by water pistol incident as well one night.

Aside from the feeling a little low on Christmas day in the absence of family and friends and pots and pans, it all turned out ok :) And after all is said and done Christmas fades pretty quickly once it's over and the prospect of new year in Sydney was a little bit exciting to say the least. Anyways, it was great to speak to everyone we managed to talk to :) And once again apologies to Johnboy for NOT phoning you - we are officially useless and will remain so until we redeem ourselves further!

So after our very successful fry-up and present opening session (Amy and I spent $10 AKA 4 pounds on each other in the tat shop before Christmas so we would have some stuff to open, the highlights being the bunny outfit, tyre launchers and the funnel kit! - none of which paled in comparison to Alisons gifts - the girl with the five pairs of earrings! :) we headed to Coogee beach for a sunbathing session - this was a bit hit and miss since we (and all the weather folk out there) had been expecting rain on Christmas day - luckily for us because plan B had yet to be formulated. we made it to the beach along with hundreds of other backpackers of all shapes and sizes in all states of dress up and dress down! One group even brought a Christmas tree with them.

In the evening we were lucky enough to be invited round Alison's friend Chris's for a proper turkey dinner, we donned our Sunday best jeans and away we went to Manly. We watched the sunset over the City and had an absolute feast! Having thoroughly tested the noodle diet for the previous couple of weeks...I had two platefuls, Amy had one and a half then I ate her leftover half! So much for having shrunk the stomach :) Obviously in not-so-well-known company who are not aware of our current noodle-loving situation I just looked like a bit of a pig!! Which translated into me getting the largest portion of dessert...this is the point when my plan backfired because the dessert consisted of plum pudding, cream and mango.

Enter fussy Gem!

In theory I can manage the mango without too much effort...and if I eat around all the raisins in the cake then maybe I can hide the leftover raisins under the cream...it's quite plausible/inoffensive to not like cream right?! The first problem I discovered was that the cake although on appearance looked not very raisin-y was in fact full of them! The second problem I encountered was that not only did it look like I had mutilated the cake but it was never all going to fit underneath the spoonful of cream...D'oh! The dude caught on to my plight and I thought honesty is definitely the best policy (especially after a couple of glasses of wine!).

Having spent the night in Manly we were in prime position to watch the Boxing day Sydney to Hobart Boat Race leave from Sydney Harbour the next morning. And that was our Christmas :)

Hope you all had a good one people...! Take care....Amyizzle and Gemizzle in da hoouse