Antipodean Christmas

Antipodean Christmas

If you come from the Northern Hemisphere, there is some rather odd about associating Christmas with sunshine and palm trees.  But, of course, that is the norm in the Southern Hemisphere, where Christmas marks the start of summer vacation, beach excursions and barbeques.  Even Santa looks a bit out of place here:

So, how better to spend the day than to go surfing, or just cruising along the beach at Manly, which was packed on Xmas Day with sunbathers, picnickers, and some daring surfers.

Boxing Day traditionally marks the start of the Sydney-to-Hobart sailing race, which featured 99 entrants, at least at the start.  We headed out (in rainy weather) to Watson’s Bay to watch the race start.  The skies cleared by noon but it remained windy and a bit gloomy, foreshadowing the difficulties the contenders would face this year as they approached Tasmania.  But the harbour was a spectacular sight of the boats, dominated by the large maxis (over 100 ft) as well as spectators out for a party, and at least 10 helicopters buzzing overhead.

The smaller boats were relegated to the rear, as the maxis shot out quickly, particularly the heavily favored Wild Oats XI, which has won the race several times and set the record of 1 hour, 18 minutes to cover the 628 nautical miles.  They would go on to win again this year, after others dropped out in poor weather conditions, and notwithstanding a last minute protest over their use of a phone to signal in their position upon entering Bass Strait.

As the afternoon cleared, we headed –where else—to the beach, for a swim at Shark Bay.  (There is actually a safety net there to prevent sharks from entering, which makes it an ideal swimming spot.

At Rose Bay, a new sport: the moth, a cross between a wind surf and a sunfish.  Looks very difficult, and this fellow shot out like a cannon and soon capsized (but righted himself and was off again).

And for landlubbers, there is always the amusement park, modeled after Coney Island and filled with games and rides.

So, a typical Xmas weekend, complete with crackers and hats.