scrawni

Our thoughts have recently turned to xmas as we will have been here about 5mths then. There will only be the 3 of us and we were wondering what to do with ourselves!

We thought about booking a trip but not sure that financially we can do that yet.

What I don't want to do is just sit there wondering what all the family are doing back home. We usually spend it together and it will be our first xmas without our lovely daughter.

What I love about christmas is being sociable and the get togethers, so I am a little worried about that side of things.

Any ideas?

Mandy

Ceri

Camping by the sea etc ? That shouldn't break the bank. I don't know what Cairns is like for campsites, but here a lot of people go over to straddie and such for the holidays. Campsites are pretty cheap, but they get booked up very early for Christmas. So if you are deciding to book anything up, do it now. Most holiday places get booked solid for December and Jan here, Cairns is probably the same. The atmosphere there can be fun, and there should plenty of other kids for you kid to play with ( I'm assuming the third of you is a child). And plenty of other families to socialise with.
.................................................. ....................
Don't know what I'm doing for Christmas this year, hubby wants us to go home this year , he can't stand another Christmas here. I'd love to go home, but I'm the practical one.. too much to do here, what with work responsibilities, then we have heaps to do around our house, still haven't finished all the landscaping. I'm probably making excuses not to go..as I may not end up coming back.

Usually our Christmases involve, getting up.. opening pressies then going to friends BBQ's and parties in the afternoon and evening, phoning family Christmas night, talking to our siblings who do have webcams ( which my mum doesn't, she hates computers).. and wishing like mad we were there with them. It's never the same. I've basically had 12 Christmases in the heat, 6 in Aus .. bar the odd year when we did go home for Christmas. I like heat, but not at Christmas. And even if you are at your families throats.. it's still nice to be with your family at Christmas to be at their throats. BBq's and sun don't quite cut it for me for a real Christmas.

cheers

Paul&Ann-Marie

We moved here in august this year and i am going to miss christmas in the uk.
I have a big famliy and we always take it in turns to have a party on christmas day night where the adults drink and the kids played games.Plus my brother and sister in law are having a baby in november and i am going to miss the birth and holding a new baby.
We have no plans yet for christams day but i think it will be just the 4 of us.
I am trying to buy presents for the kids,just little things to open on christams day because they will miss the big santa sacks in the uk.
Going to miss mums christmas dinner.
Going to miss the famliy barny's on christmas day.lol

We are planning to go back next christmas for 3 weeks.

Ann Marie

scrawni

Ceri, do I detect a little unhappiness at the moment?

Mandy

scrawni

Ann Marie,

You sound a bit like me at the moment. Christmas is such a big thing in our family and I will miss the get together, the dinner and the noise.

Funny that, noise is one of the things I am missing the most. Noise of family, daughter has gone back to the uk, so no loud music playing, kids arguing. Noise at work, working in a school was really noisy, kid shouting and messing about.

I don't think it would be a good idea for the three of us to spend xmas alone together this year, we need people around us.

I haven't started getting present yet but must soon.

Mandy

Ceri

Christmas does that to you I've spent too many Christmases away from the UK, it doesn't get any easier. I think I'll douce my tree in petrol and chuck it on the BBQ this year, that should cheer me up.

Celtic_Angel

I'm not in OZ and I don't intent on going there but I was interested in this thread cos I have a good friend who's moved to Adelaide and I 've asked her the same question!!

Xmas in the Summer I don't think i could ever get used to that I love the big turkey dinner and getting stuffed with xmas pud. couldn't imagine wanting to head of to the beach after that! Beached whale comes to mind!

More than xmas in Summer though aren't the Winter's over there very long and boring? I mean Xmas and New Years breaks Winter time up for me gives you something to look forward to when the weather's gloomy, what do you look forward to when in Oz?

As for missing family it's the same where ever you go I'm in U.S and miss my family & friends terribly during Xmas time and over here i can never get a hold of any xmas pudding !

Ceri

Winters in Brisbane are not all that long, around April and May it tends to start to noticeably cool down most years ( although early April this year we had a stonker apparently.. I missed that I was out of the country at the time ) , and June, July Aug tends to be the coldest months here.. sept we are warming up again .. for the past week it's been hiting around 29c here, sometimes it's october that tends to be the warming up month. By dec and Jan and Feb it's scorching and humid these tend to be our warmest months here in Brisabane.

Winters are pretty boring here as we don't get much rain in brisbane during the winter months, tends to be very dry. Summers are to be looked forward to for the wild storms .

cheers

Celtic_Angel

What keeps you in Oz Ceri ? , reading your location you're not where you want to be

Celtic_Angel

LMAO I just saw that you've got a Red Dragon ! are you Welsh? me too We're both definitly a long way from home!

Pollyana

Can I come over and join you for the ceremony Ceri? Sounds more fun than the Christmas I'm anticipating! We can sing "Land of my Fathers" and have a ritual tree burning
I can quite honestly say I am dreading the whole Christmas thing, start to finish.

jayr

First Christmas here we'd arrived nine days previously and were in temporary accommodation. Booked at restaurant and went dressed up- wondering why everyone was in singlet and thongs (or vest and flip flops as it was then)

Last Christmas had the 'works' at home - Chrsitams day was 37C so jumped in the pool between courses

Onm the Christmas card front I refuse to send Northern Hempishphere Christmas cards (snow and the like). Fortunately you can get some very good Southern Hempisphere cards if you look

Someone posted about gong to the cinema for the a/c. Last summer when it got really hot (we had 43C in our backyard) we went to the cinema for that very reason. I have never seen a cinema so busy in my life, I think eveything was sold out - I can't even remember what I watched, as far as I was concerned I had paid to hire their a/c, not see a film.

mlbonner

IMO tts not the same here, thats for sure. Last year I found it hard because I was spending it with a whole bunch of people, I'd never had Christmas with before, and not one familiar face. This year we talked about going away (but decided we would rather save to go skiing in Feb to Canada) and as its turned out, the whole family is going down the coast anyway. For me at least, Christmas is a bit of a non-entity over here.... it just ain't Christmas without the Turkey, midday friends meet at local, cold, rain/snow, and family!

Pollyana

I was hoping that The Bloke and I could just vanish for a couple of days, but no, I apparently have the MIL coming to stay for 2 weeks, so will have to take time of work, which means bang goes next years UK holiday. Then The Bloke is threatening to invite his brother and co, and all the extended family to us this year for lunch - fabulous; dinner for 10 in a pokey kitchen in 40 degree heat. I love this country

Ceri

Good question... Came here from Asia where we were at the time over 6 years ago, with our then company ( which is based in the US) to set up a branch here in Qld, for a sister branch which was based in Newcastle who wanted to expand to QLD . Got a bit fed up with Asia after 5 years, well not fed up, fed up, just wanted some sanity .We chose Aus over a few other countries ( China, Thailand, Indonesia and Scotland at the time) to be relocated to, was only supposed to be for a couple of years ( never intended to emigrate permanently anywhere.. (it's always been business, and for the challenge/nose), and we picked the "western" country when we wanted to move on from Singapore. And now I don't want this "sanity" of Aus. It's like living in a bubble in this country. Doing my head in

Can't really fully answer it why we are still here I suppose. You plan to go, then something comes up, like a big contract so you don't want to let others down.We've planning to move back to the UK for ages ( could have told you Aus was not for us over 5 years ago) but we never seem to get around to it. Don't know, I need a shrink to tell me that one

where's my flight holdall , and b*gger to everything ?? lol

cheers

P.s Too far away from home
............................
PPS when I start everything goes up in flames Pollyana.. I'm not joking. It is always quite fun to pour petrol on the BBq, the other thing which is good for a flame.. get the spray cooking oil out and spray it onto the BBq ( charcoal .. none of your clean Aussie poofta gas BBq's for me, may as well cook on stove as one of those ... real BBq's with fire anyday)