Our Aussie Christmas & Boxing Day

Our Aussie Christmas Eve tradition is to drive down to Phillip Island, have a picnic on the beach, and then watch the little penguins come in.  This year was no exception and with all of the house craziness we were really looking forward to it.  It was the perfect day for it, nice and warm.  Phil had a good bike ride down to meet me while I visiting with the koalas.  Then we walked down to the beached and laid down our spread for a relaxing dinner.  There were even more tourists than normal at the penguins this year, so we didn't stay long.  It was still a nice evening out and is a traditional we will continue because it so perfectly captures what it's like to have Christmas in the summer down here. 
Koala taking a Christmas Eve nap 
Christmas Eve picnic on the beach
 On Christmas Day we went to our Aussie family for lunch.  It is always nice to join their family for the holiday, and equally nice to go home later and take a quiet Christmas Day nap! 
George playing the Grinch under the tree
On Boxing Day we went to the Boxing Day Cricket Test Match.  This is something we had decided to do when we got our citizenship earlier in the year.  It seemed like one of those rights of passage as a new Aussie.  Before the game a bunch of girls marched out and sang some Australian song I had never heard of.  Than an aboriginal person played the didgeridoo in honor of the 150th anniversary of the first Aboriginal game played at the MCG.  We sat in the section next to the notoriously crazy section.  It was fairly mellow early in the day, but as the game got more boring the fans starting drinking more.  There were several groups wearing some interesting costumes, and at one point the crowd started up the Mexican Wave.  I thought this was interesting for two reasons, one because the tickets specifically said the Mexican Wave was prohibited, and the second, because they actually call it the Mexican Wave.  In the US, it's called the Wave, and if you called it the Mexican Wave you'd get strange looks at best, but more likely accusations of racism. 
Pre game action - Didgeridoos and people singing
Beach ball during the match
This is what you do while watching cricket - you drink until it's more entertaining 
The Mexican Wave
Dudes dressed up as a bird and chips.  Hmm perhaps they're supposed to be chicken and chips?
The game was just as exciting as I had imagined.  Luckily I came prepared with a book.  We left in the afternoon just before the rain rolled in.  Not something I'd do every year, but it's something to tick off the list now. 

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