Christmas in Surfers Paradise
My Christmas Eve ‘06 started early in Brisbane. It was the last morning of Fraser holidays and time to drive back to Surfers, so we left Ash and Arpi’s at 9ish, picked Härmo and Anni, who were coming down for our fabulous Christmas Party, up from the CBD and headed back to the Coast. Over the Story Bridge, pass Kangaroo Point, along the Gold Coast HWY, back to Surfers Paradise. You know, the usual way :-) Paul had to return the car to Coolangatta by 11 and catch his flight back home to Sydney, so we were pretty much in a hurry, which was good as it didn’t leave us much time for long and sad goodbyes. As soon as the car turned a
round the corner, I grabbed my bags and made a few very fast steps up the stairs, back home.. back to Ann, but not only!! Back to Jarno and Tiit!! The two guys had finally made it up here and joined us for Christmas. Their best mate Molly (read: Mazda 323 from 1985) had not let them down :-) Indescribable moments of happiness and reunion, mega hugs and heaps of amazing stories of their 3-month Aussie Adventure from Perth to Gold Coast. Welcome to Surfers Paradise, guys! Make yourselves at home! Which of course they had already well done as they had occupied our double bed and left Ann on the floor with a mattress. Gentlemen!! :-) Yeah, we know you have come a long way, so I’ll wait a few more minutes before the roles change again :-)
Done with chatting, we jumped into Molly and raced to Pacific Fair for some Christmas shopping. Poor Molly, I guess its bottom was almost touching the ground with 5 people on board. And imagine what it felt later driving back home when we had loaded the boot with 3 kg of pork meat, 2 bags of potatoes, 2 cans of sauerkraut, 2 packs of sausages, different sauces, 2 chocolate mud cakes, heaps of fruit, bread, chips, drinks, 4 l of wine and all the ingredients for our absolute favorite – potato salad!! Enough food for 11 hungry Estonians at Christmas dinner. Homemade Christmas dinner (chefs: Ann, Anni & Kairi :P) which turned out to be a real success. And if we hadn’t been all sweating in the 30 degrees heat, I guess it would have almost felt 
like back home. The 3-course dinner started with potato salad and sausages, followed by pork steak, oven-baked potatoes and sauerkraut (just like back home, with strong mustard!), and topped with chocolate cake, biscuits and fruits.. always accompanied with loads of beer and wine :-) By the time Santa arrived, we weren’t only drunk but so full that it was hard to perform all these songs, rhymes and dances to get the presents, made by Secret Santa. Heaps of presents, including my 2 CDs of Bob Marley, Paavo’s floating crocodile, Anni’s body board, etc. The Santa Down Under had no red coat, long white beard or black boots. He had boardies, Sombrero and thongs (read: flip flops). And his main phrase was ‘No worries, mate!’ :-)
Fun! So much fun! Thanks, guys! Ann, Paavo aka Paff, Tiit x 2, Jarno, Härmo, Anni, Kalju aka Cliff, Meelis, you are the best!! Christmas 2006 in Surfers Paradise!! Not all of us recovered the morning after :-) ->
Christmas Day @ Sheraton Mirage
Somehow (I don’t know how) I forced myself to wake up this morning, jump into my black & whites and go to work at Sheraton Mirage. I guess the $38/hr rate (plus the $20 tip I got!! Rare case in Oz, well done, K!) on Christmas Day was a great motivation though. The venue was a Christmas Day Buffet at Sheraton Mirage Grand Ballroom – a huge room with a stage and more than 50 tables. The buffet had almost everything one could dream of.. for $175 bucks pp, but it all felt so ‘public’ and not intimate. I guess I’m just used to the traditions, beliefs and values back home which say that Christmas is the time for your family and loved ones, it’s silent and peaceful, filled with sentiments to touch your heart. The only Christmas feeling I came across in that huge ballroom was seeing the grannies playing with their little grandchildren.. many generations altogether. But you look 3 meters away and notice a similar picture at the next table, and all you can do is wonder why all these strange people come together to share the special moments of a year in that huge and bright ‘public’ ballroom. Instead of cooking a lovely dinner at home, enjoying the silence and candle light, open presents around the Christmas tree and have more than 1x1 m to play with your children or grandchildren. Things are different Down Under.. things are upside down..
round the corner, I grabbed my bags and made a few very fast steps up the stairs, back home.. back to Ann, but not only!! Back to Jarno and Tiit!! The two guys had finally made it up here and joined us for Christmas. Their best mate Molly (read: Mazda 323 from 1985) had not let them down :-) Indescribable moments of happiness and reunion, mega hugs and heaps of amazing stories of their 3-month Aussie Adventure from Perth to Gold Coast. Welcome to Surfers Paradise, guys! Make yourselves at home! Which of course they had already well done as they had occupied our double bed and left Ann on the floor with a mattress. Gentlemen!! :-) Yeah, we know you have come a long way, so I’ll wait a few more minutes before the roles change again :-)
Done with chatting, we jumped into Molly and raced to Pacific Fair for some Christmas shopping. Poor Molly, I guess its bottom was almost touching the ground with 5 people on board. And imagine what it felt later driving back home when we had loaded the boot with 3 kg of pork meat, 2 bags of potatoes, 2 cans of sauerkraut, 2 packs of sausages, different sauces, 2 chocolate mud cakes, heaps of fruit, bread, chips, drinks, 4 l of wine and all the ingredients for our absolute favorite – potato salad!! Enough food for 11 hungry Estonians at Christmas dinner. Homemade Christmas dinner (chefs: Ann, Anni & Kairi :P) which turned out to be a real success. And if we hadn’t been all sweating in the 30 degrees heat, I guess it would have almost felt 
like back home. The 3-course dinner started with potato salad and sausages, followed by pork steak, oven-baked potatoes and sauerkraut (just like back home, with strong mustard!), and topped with chocolate cake, biscuits and fruits.. always accompanied with loads of beer and wine :-) By the time Santa arrived, we weren’t only drunk but so full that it was hard to perform all these songs, rhymes and dances to get the presents, made by Secret Santa. Heaps of presents, including my 2 CDs of Bob Marley, Paavo’s floating crocodile, Anni’s body board, etc. The Santa Down Under had no red coat, long white beard or black boots. He had boardies, Sombrero and thongs (read: flip flops). And his main phrase was ‘No worries, mate!’ :-)
Fun! So much fun! Thanks, guys! Ann, Paavo aka Paff, Tiit x 2, Jarno, Härmo, Anni, Kalju aka Cliff, Meelis, you are the best!! Christmas 2006 in Surfers Paradise!! Not all of us recovered the morning after :-) ->Christmas Day @ Sheraton Mirage
Somehow (I don’t know how) I forced myself to wake up this morning, jump into my black & whites and go to work at Sheraton Mirage. I guess the $38/hr rate (plus the $20 tip I got!! Rare case in Oz, well done, K!) on Christmas Day was a great motivation though. The venue was a Christmas Day Buffet at Sheraton Mirage Grand Ballroom – a huge room with a stage and more than 50 tables. The buffet had almost everything one could dream of.. for $175 bucks pp, but it all felt so ‘public’ and not intimate. I guess I’m just used to the traditions, beliefs and values back home which say that Christmas is the time for your family and loved ones, it’s silent and peaceful, filled with sentiments to touch your heart. The only Christmas feeling I came across in that huge ballroom was seeing the grannies playing with their little grandchildren.. many generations altogether. But you look 3 meters away and notice a similar picture at the next table, and all you can do is wonder why all these strange people come together to share the special moments of a year in that huge and bright ‘public’ ballroom. Instead of cooking a lovely dinner at home, enjoying the silence and candle light, open presents around the Christmas tree and have more than 1x1 m to play with your children or grandchildren. Things are different Down Under.. things are upside down..
posted by kairike at 9:42 PM
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