And so, I was back in the city, and had under a week to get everything sorted for Christmas, not really that tricky as I had already posted everything to the UK, so just had a few things to get for people over here, and bake some necessary treats for the festive period. And so I set to it.
On Monday I went into the City to have a look around for potential presents, it was a pretty weird experience doing it in hot weather, it was a beautiful day, and there were decorations over the roads and in all of the shop windows, but I just couldn't get in the mood, and it really didn't feel like Christmas. Because of this, I didn't feel the panic I should have done, so just wandered around town looking at stuff, but not actually doing anything useful at all. Despite my rather unsuccessful day, I rewarded myself with Krispy Kreme doughnut (starting to get slightly obsessed by the 'iced chocolate' one), not really sticking to my proposed diet which I set on myself after eating so much cheese, but it is Christmas, so I don't really see the point in trying to hard, I'll still eat the same amounts of junk, but just feel guilty about it, so I put all thoughts of this to the back of my mind, and enjoyed the treat! When I got back I went to Coles to collect the ingredients for Chitty's chocolate cake, and truffles. Stupidly I asked if anyone else wanted anything, and set off with a list much longer than expected, and dragging the old lady trolley. Damn not having a car! I also got all the stuff to make the trifle, so when I got back me and Will started. I had managed to convince him that swiss roll would be a good replacement for trifle sponges, and reluctantly he agreed to try it this year. And so, with jelly and swiss roll at the ready, we constructed the first couple of layers of the trifle, and left it in the fridge to set. After this I felt quite domestic (nothing quite like making jelly and opening cans of fruit to make you fe el like a housewife!) and so decided to get my recipe book up to date.
The next day I just chilled out in Yarraville and ate far too many sweet treats - all eaten guilt free, as Christmas is now very close, and it is the time to eat and drink too much - that's the rules! I did decide to do a small amount of activity and took the dogs out for a walk so we could all get some exercise, not sure if the dogs needed it, but I would feel mean leaving them at home! When I got back Will decided to show off and make proper fancy real custard for the trifle, but it didn't really work. In fact, it didn't work at all, and refused to set. I had been concerned throughout the whole process that I would somehow ruin it, so was partially pleased that I had very little to do with it - no blame at all! But, it did taste good, even if it did have a rather dubious consistency. So we ate it, much better idea.
I had a very important appointment on Wednesday at 2pm, for a hair cut. However, before then, I went into Yarraville for a look around, to see if I could find any good stocking fillers, and I managed to get a couple of things, but the $10 limit really does make it trickier than you'd think. So, again, not being very successful on the christmas present, front, but still not feeling any form of panic i headed into the City in time for my haircut. Safe to say I was just a little bit nervous - it's been 18 months since I let a hairdresser near me, and so I put my trust in someone else to sort out the mane that I had. it is the same place Will and Toni go to, and my reasoning was that if they can tame Will's hair they must be able to deal with mine. About an hour later I left, feeling very happy with myself. A great haircut, and I even got 25% off because it was my first time there - bonus. They had given me exactly what I wanted - there's a first time for everything I suppose. So, I strutted around the city for a bit longer, whilst admiring my hair in every shop window possible - when did I turn this vain? When I got back to Yarraville (and showed off my hair) we just pottered about the house in the evening and ate more strange custard.
With only two more days to go until Christmas I kicked my ass into gear, and me, Will, and our flatmate (complete with his crutches) headed into the city to do some shopping. Will went off with the temporary cripple, and I headed towards the closest book shop to try and pick up some good pressies. After a few hours of 4 bookshops, CD shops, Lush, Body Shop and a magazine shop, I was happy that I had everything ready for Christmas, and was pretty chuffed with my choices. I had been told about the Bourke St. windows, which have a big display every year depicting a different Christmas story, and this year it was the Nutcracker. It was along a huge shop front, and each window had puppets and mechanical presentations, and I was really wanting to go - until I saw the queue, which stretched all the way down the street. So, I got as close as I could without having to wait, and saw the Nutcracker story in it's full glory - only backwards! I spent the afternoon wrapping presents, whilst Will went back into the City to collect his very fancy new bike. A little Christmas present to himself. And I felt cheeky that I bought myself a magazine when I was out!
We all went out food shopping during the day, as if we didn't have enough anyway, but we got some yummy Leibkuchen (sp?) from Aldi (it doesn't matter where you are in the world, Aldi will always have weird German biscuits!) and whilst we were there we also found some very comfy looking camping rolls, which were one step up from the yoga mat we were all planning on - it even had a little built in pillow. So, we all picked out our favourite coloured ones and paid. And then Will broke a strap off his whilst we were still in the shop, so he claimed it was always broken, and vowed to be more careful.
Me, Will and Toni all went for a bike ride in the evening with the dogs, mainly so Will could try his new toy out, and we cycled along the river and then walked out along a spit in the water. As we looked out over the setting sun we tried to see if we could spot the 'Spirit of Tasmania' which we were going to be getting the next day. Sadly, we didn't see it, but we did see a huge container ship heading out, which created a wake so huge it changed the tide for about 5 minutes. The amount of water flowing was mad, and I was only slightly scared Joey might see it as fun and jump in to play. As the mozzies came out to play we headed home trying not to get eaten alive. This really did prove to me that I have to get more fit, but I say that every time I do any form of exercise, and once again decided that all would change after Christmas.
T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse. Well, maybe not quite true - we spent the evening partaking in all of the obligatory Christmas traditions; watched 'The Snowman', and finished the night with 'The Nightmare Before Christmas', we even started the trifle, which is against all the rules, but as we were leaving on Boxing Day we didn't want to leave any behind! Trifles really do taste better from a proper bowl too - I am glad I wasn't the one lumbered with bringing it out here though. And, the second round of custard we made worked perfectly, still without the use of custard powder!
One more sleep...
I was woken up that morning at a surprisingly decent time - apparently Will had tried about 3 hours previously and been unsuccessful! And so, once we were all up, we put on some dodgy Christmas radio, and sat down to open our presents. We all got some pretty cool stuff, and I was pretty chuffed with my goodies for the day, including a new Crumpler bag, a lunch box (believe me it is cooler than it sounds!), a bag Dad got me from China, and Mum got me a very cool necklace pendant made from a fork. I am pretty sure I was there when she bought it, but she claimed it was for someone else! We then embraced a Smith family tradition, and, instead of stuffing our faces with chocolate for breakfast, we had a lovely cooked one, complete with bucks fizz. Slightly more classy than half a chocolate santa, and a handful of Roses! We skyped everyone from home to thank them for the presents, and from then on, we all spent a good few hours eating chocolate and playing Tekken 6 on our flatmates Xbox. The last time I played it it was Tekken 3, but I was pleased to see that nothing had changed, and button bashing is still the best way to win. And after we had all had our fill, and I had successfully shown I was the best player in the house, it was time to start creating the feast. And we had a cool six courses to get ready. Course 1 - Prawn cocktail (make that melon cocktail, but we like to pretend). Course 2 - Mustard and tomato pastries. Course 3 - The main meal, with roast potatoes, loads of veggies, and a veggie bake. Course 4 - Muscat and Christmas pudding balls. Course 5 - Trifle. Course 6 - Mince pies. We lost of flatmate around course four and he retired to bed to recover. And then we rested. We did manage to work up the energy to Skype everyone from home again, as it was then their Christmas morning, but we didn't do much else for the rest of the evening. What a perfect Christmas - family, food, dodgy films, and playing games! Although it wasn't stupidly hot, it was still strange having Christmas in even vaguely warm weather - I'm was getting pretty used to having a white Christmas. It was also nice to not have the thought that I would be back at work the next day - ah the joys of working at the ice rink for a few years! And so, we all went to bed, well fed, and happy with our little stashes of presents we had received.
And so was the morning after the night before, and we started the day with trifle - nothing else would seem right on Boxing Day. We had found out a couple of days before that we had a space on the night boat (we were meant to be leavnig at 9am that morning), which meant we had the whole day to organise ourselves for our time in Tasmania. And so, with a little shopping list, me and Toni headed to the nearest shopping centre, on the first day of the sales, and it was revolting - the whole place was completely packed, but we tried our best to get what we needed, and left with some of the things on the list. Toni got a new sleeping bag, which was the main aim of the game, and we both got a of wellies (or, gum boots), I didn't manage to find a cheap waterproof jacket, but at least my feet would be dry - that'd be enough. We spent the rest of the day packing our things, and them cramming them into the car - and by the end it was pretty full - we did manage to leave spaces for me and the dogs though! And after a final check, we were off to the port to catch the boat. We had the normal boring waiting around, and then finally got through security, and onto the boat. It was at this point we had to say goodbye to the dogs, and put them in the kennels - we were all a bit gutted to leave them there - it didn't seem to nice for them, but it was only for one night. Poor things. But, with them ready for the trip, we went to find our cabin. We were meant to be on the ocean recliners, but when we got the new boat time we also got upgraded to a cabin for next to nothing - it was great! And, with our new abode fully investigated - it even had a shower! - we went to see the rest of the boat. It wasn't really that big, but we did find out that they had a very cute tiny cinema, with a terrible movie showing. Whilst we were wandering about we bumped into some people from the Fringe who were also going to work at Falls Festival - it really is a small world in the festival circuit! The rest of the night was spent watching the terrible film (Date Night - pretty crappy, but at least it wasted 90 minutes of the journey, and I even bought some tacky playing cards with a picture of the 'Spirit of Tasmania' on them, and so we played with them for a while - not the best thing to try and do on a moving ship, and after a while I think we all felt pretty weird (I know I did!) so headed back to the cabin - with a quick detour on deck to play in the pissing rain and winds, and then we swayed and wobbled to our little room, and went to bed, being slowly rocked to sleep by the waves.
And there we go, I've had a great week, a fantastic Christmas, and ended the week in the Bass Straight heading towards Devonport...
(I do have some photos for this week, but they are on Will's computer, so I will upload them soon, hopefully!)
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