Happy New Year and all that

OK, that's Christmas and New Year out of the way so I'm back to blogging. G'day all.

Christmas was fun. We hosted for my Mum, M's parents, sisters and sundry hangers-on, a total of 10 adults and 3 kids. Much to my relief things went without a hitch, thanks largely to everybody chipping in with contributions in the form of pavlovas and suchlike. The highlight was the entire mob decamping to the swimming pool at the end of the road for an afternoon dip. Christmas in Australia, eh?

New Year was spent with Nick, Lou and various other chancers at a dodgy old bierkeller in the Rocks. The mood was drunken and unselfconscious with an oompah ban leading us in renditions of The Birdy Song and The Banana Boat Song to much hilarity. It was also a chance to catch up with old mates, in particular Chico and the long-lost Beverly Dale. The fireworks were as amazing as you've heard, but felt almost incidental at the time.