happy christmas everyone!

And - finally - meeting Santa himself, at the Coogee Carols last Saturday. Another surreal winter-in-summer experience. Not just weird because of all the red woolly Santa trappings (ho ho ho) and the snow/sleigh bells songs but also because not a choir, as I had perhaps stupidly expected, but a band and singer and (something I had forgotten how much I disliked) pop songs masquerading as carols. Bah humbug!

...and dressing up

The other side of being comfortable in small amounts of miscellaneous causal wear is an enthusiasm for proper dressing up. As far as I can tell, this is of two basic sorts: smart casual and fancy dress. The first – at the risk of sounding unfairly derogatory - tends to 80s disco and the kind of blingy dressiness that people in the North East of England do very well. The second is the propensity to use any occasion to party in a costume; starting with party hats and getting more and more outrageous as required (for example, playing bowls dressed as characters from superhero films). Or not just being Father Christmas in the pub, but also some Christmas parcels.

dressing down....

Still struggling with wearing the right amount of clothes (i.e. less) for the hot and humid conditions. This is partly because everyday Coogee-style is basically a very casual cross between swimwear, sports gear and pyjamas.  People seem completely calm about going around in their underwear whilst I have neither the aptitude nor the physique to do this.

So, still wearing too many layers (and carrying a jumper with me at all times ‘just in case’). Even when I walk down to my tennis lesson ( – I know, I am impressed too! -)  in shorts and a teeshirt I feel a bit naked. Who knows how long adaption to new climes is going to take. Probably just in time for returning to London.


As many of my friends will know, I am not a snappy dresser. Happy to lounge around in my PJs for much of the day if allowed. One of the things I like about Moscow is that - inside - everyone dresses down like this, even to visit their neighbours in nearby blocks. But that is inside, and amongst people you know, not on public display. Here my old-fashioned English reticence definitely leaps to the fore. 

more on santa(s)

Keep seeing half-life-sized inflatable Santa figures outside people's houses that look like they have been lynched. Thought it was some kind of freaky joke until I realized that he is meant to be climbing up (down?) a rope.  

The Santa in the photo, though, tells a more complicated and sorrowful tale; is prone on the ground, his arm wrapped around both a cricket bat and an emu, his face buried in the latter. A remaining - and Christmas-themed - memorial to cricketer Phil Hughes, after whose death last month many Sydney-siders put out a cricket bat on their front porch, as a sign of respect.

going the whole ho-ho-hog

There are so many impressive christmas themed houses and apartments around, enough to make it difficult to choose which one to show. I have gone for this beaut - mainly because at other times of year it has had a full-sized model sheep on display instead. 

christmas time

Finally beginning to feel a bit Christmassy. Have been out buying presents and decorations; was given a freebie sign saying 'let it snow' in silver glitter which is now hanging on my front door mosquito screen - hilarious! Have found this plant - kangaroo paw - as a suitably appropriate floral arrangement. Better than a poinsettia or a Christmas tree, both of which are of course also available everywhere.

rough

Meanwhile, the ocean at Coogee  is not behaving as normal. The small island in the middle of the bay usually acts as a kind of breakwater, making the incoming waves friendly and unsurfable. But with a seemingly endless stream of tropical-style storms, the waves are up - crashing into the beach with a previously unseen fury. Surfers have arrived and the usually protected Giles baths is foamy and turbulent. Additional fun for all. 

siege

In the aftermath of the siege in the Lindt café in Martin Place, there has been much sadness, and some debate about whether this was a terrorist attack, or the actions of a mentally unstable man. Unfortunately – if perhaps not surprisingly, - there are continuing anxieties about more terrorist threats, something that has not yet touched Sydney or the Australian mainland. It feels weird to be a bit blasé about this - having experienced the London IRA attacks back in the 1970s, as well as the more recent bombings both in London and Moscow.

This doesn’t mean not being affected by the awfulness of it, just less willing to allow an impact on everyday life. I was talking to someone yesterday who was no longer planning to go to the NYE events in central Sydney. He clearly felt very vulnerable, and all too willing to be suspicious of, and conspiratorial about, what happened and/or could happen.