My First Christmas in Australia

My little mini $25 Christmas tree (including lights and decorations)!

So this was my first Christmas away from home, my family and friends. But I suppose I still got a 'White' Christmas with Shane and his family (last name White hehe *winkface*).

I missed my family and friends dearly but I got see and talk to them on Skype so it made it that much better. I had a pretty great Christmas in Australia. It was a hot one, which was so different! It didn’t really feel like Christmas… though it didn't feel as festive! I've always known Christmas as being inside staying warm while there's a blanket of snow covering everything outside and having warm comfort foods. I spent the day with Shane’s family and with his nephews and niece running around and excited to open presents. We had a Christmas lunch with summer dishes like salads, seafood and cold meats so that was a change. The weather wasn't as hot as previous years as Shane tells me but for me it was a nice temperature so I didn't complain haha. 

 

It was a pretty busy day but we got a chance to wind down at the beach in the late afternoon and the water was nice and warm. It was a great way to relax after all the hustle and bustle of the day. Overall, my first Christmas in Oz was quite different from my past experiences but enjoyable nonetheless. My favourite was feeling the sand in between my toes on Christmas Day!! Can't say I've done that before!

Then in the evening we went for a cruise around the Old Bar neighbourhood and was quite surprised to see how many people put Christmas lights up on their houses. That's when it started feeling more like Christmas to me so that was a great way to end the day!

I just wanted to share a photo that Shane composed and captioned: "I hope everyone is getting into the Christmas spirits" (they call hard liquor 'spirits' here) ;)

Summer Music Festivals

When summer rolls around, you can expect your fair share of music festivals that are happening all around the country. My sister Tiff would really enjoy herself with the many choices of festivals.

I had a chance to go to 3 festivals: 1. Parklife, 2. Fat As Butter, and 3. Festival of the Sun.

Parklife, Sydney, October 2, 2011

Well, October is not quite into summer yet, hence the rainy and cold photos, but decided to group it in with this post anyway!
Pre-rum & frozen cokes for the bus ride there. It was rainy and cold, but we had $2 ponchos and I got some rain boots. Expensive drinks, 5 stages, great line up: we saw Naked and Famous, Nero, MSTRKRFT, Lykke Li, Kimbra, Ducksauce, Santigold, Yacht Club DJs, Strange Talk, Flux Pavilion, Example!

One out of the 5 stages at the festival

Kimbra

Rainy day and ponchos

With Zack, Phil, Shane and I

my Target rain boots were a good choice for a day like this, and I wasn't the only one rocking these ones

Santigold was amazing

With Simone and Kristy watching Santigold

Really enjoyed these guys

At the end of the night with our rainy hair and ponchos

Fat As Butter, Newcastle, October 22, 2011

The headliner, Flo Rida was a no show... due to (as rumoured) hotel room not meeting his standards? What a disappointment lol. It was a sunny and hot day, a few stages, rides, and festival food. We saw The Jezabels, Naughty by Nature, Empire of the Sun, The Herd, and a few others I can't remember.

No Flo Rida but Naughty by Nature was awesome!

Back at the tent, a little *unce unce unce*

Festival of the Sun, Port Macquarie, December 9-11, 2011

This was a camping weekend festival. Bring your own booze. Felt like a really expensive camping trip haha because we didn't see too many of the performances. I really liked Guineafowl and The Lyrical. Headliners which were Ladyhawke, and Art Vs. Science.

Our group camp setup

Stage with sand that got really gross by the end of the first day.