December 24th (Friday) - December 27th (Monday): Christmas at Robe

December 23rd - Josh and I making cabbage rolls for Christmas before we left for Robe:

December 24th - We just arrived at Robe.  Our rental house is just behind us (looks out onto the ocean) through the shrubs.  This is the main beach at Robe called Long Beach.  It is one of the few beaches in Australia that you can drive on. 

The Start of the Christmas Table Tennis Tournaments:

How many things can you do while playing table tennis?  Either Georgie is really good at multi-tasking or Josh is that terrible of a player. 

Enjoying our pizza and munchies on the deck in the beautiful sunshine ;) 



I have a few cosmetic staples - they are my mascara, lipgloss, hairspray and backcombing comb.  We switched bags at the last minute and I was horrified to discover I left my hairspray and comb at home.  I survived the few days without it.  I can do it!!!!



This is excellent wine - and the owner of the vineyard also happens to be a good friend of Georgie's (we met him at that fancy supper when we first came here).  Hmmmmm maybe I can use this connection for becoming a wine taster ;)



December 25th - In the morning we had a breakfast of fruit and croissants.  It was a beautiful morning so we all decided to head down to the beach after the Turducken was put in the oven. 



Josh getting ready to brave the chilly water.  The ocean looked like the Caribbean but it definately wasn't the same temperature.  You learned pretty fast that it is less painful to dive in instead of just easing in - once your in you get used to it. 

We started eating at 1:00 and never finished until 6:30.  We started with a traditional cold seafood plate and moved directly onto supper and traditional pudding. 

Josh was in charge of the cheese tray (thank goodness Anne helped him a bit).  He had quite an arrangement, you can't quite see the added bits of pickled asparagus, mushrooms and carrots that he thought added to the dish.  

My job was to help arrange the seafood - I had no clue what I was doing either.



The Final Result: a prawn, a scallop and prosciutto skewer, deep fried squid, salmon torrentine and a shrimp dumpling.

As soon as we were done eating it was time to dish up supper - I'm not sure if Jenn was giving Josh motivation to eat more or if they were discussing Pasty business dealings.
 


Mmmm Turducken (it was so good):



The Final Result:

We were too stuffed to have the dessert yet, so we went down to the beach for a game of Cricket:




Josh was tuckered out from all of the running - I think he was missing home a bit by his half snow angel:



December 26th (Sunday - Boxing Day in Canada)

Woke up to another beautiful day - time to head to the beach!



Tim showing Josh how to use the board in shallow water:



Josh heading out into deeper/safer waters to try it out:



We all decided to go 4 by 4ing in the sand dunes:



Josh is driving the SPS (South Pacific Seeds) truck, thank goodness it has insurance:





Anne giving out Tequila shots:



 John Bogged:

Try Number 2:

 This time John made it over and so did the rest of us without getting bogged.

WooHoo - we made it over the next dune, now we just wait for the others:

Waiting for the Others - John was a success, Barney 1 (Georige & Fitzy) could not make it over and had to find a different route. 
 



Josh getting bogged:


You have to let alot of air out of your tires to make it up the dunes:


Celebratory Beers:

On our way to the docks to check out the local seafood:

Shark (aka. Flake):

Red Snapper for Boxing Day Tea:

Our Rental House:

Over the week-end the table tennis got quite intense, needed two paddles:

On the 28th (Monday) we packed up and went to the beach.  We smoked some fish in a smoker for lunch and headed home.  All in all it was a great Christmas - lots of food, fun and visits. 

Father Christmas - Santa Claus
Bogged - Stuck
Bathers - Swim Suit
Sunnies - Sun Glasses
Tea - Supper