Kookaburra, Christmas Day
It was probably the warmest Christmas Enid and I have ever experienced. Conrad’s thermometer showed it reached a high of 37 C yesterday. We celebrated it in Araluen with the Kindrachuk family, and had a great time – turkey and ham, freshly baked vegetables, and a pavlova for dessert. I have to admit that a pavlova is a great dessert to have in a hot climate, and it was delicious with fresh fruit like strawberries, blueberries, and passion fruit..
Before dinner Enid and I went for a bushwalk up the mountain behind the farm, where we saw this kookaburra. We followed the creekbed back until it climbed over a hill. When we reached the top, a good climb in the heat of the day, we followed the fireroad back down. It seemed the quintessentially Australian experience to walk through the open eucalyptus forest in the heat, and see some of the Australian birds. We’ve generally gone outdoors in Canada on Christmas Day as well, but usually to go cross country skiing.
In the afternoon Conrad played the “Saskatchewan: The Four Seasons” DVD we’d given them for Christmas. He thoroughly enjoyed it. In the evening we watched the television broadcast of carol singing in Sydney. It was very nice to have their family around when we are so far away from ours this year.