Turkey And Tinsel But No Crackers

Monday 25 December

Christmas Day

We were awakened in the wee small hours (about 01.30) by a telephone call from Juz, in festive mood, calling us before she began to cook her Christmas Dinner (about 11.30 in England). She told us how the fog had delayed the grandparents flying home on Thursday and that after a ‘council of war’ on Friday morning they had decided that traveling by car would be the best alternative. It had been a long journey, but thankfully all had eventually arrived safely back in Selsey. Juz and Dave were spending Christmas in Darlington and it seemed strange not to be with them (we remembered last year, when they surprised us by arriving at Jean and Ray’s on Christmas Day). But she promised to pass on our good wishes to everyone when she spoke to them.

I was really awake after the call, so at 02.00 I am reading my book – usually by bedtime on Christmas Eve night we are quite exhausted with all the preparations for the forthcoming celebrations. Then the air conditioning decided to clank and clatter and keep us awake even longer. So by the time we fell back to sleep it was almost time to wake up.

The weather this morning showed signs of improving – the rain from yesterday had stopped at last and the sun was appearing though breaks in the clouds. Everyone was optimistic at breakfast. We sat round the pool, reading for a while, before I ventured once more into the lagoon in a kayak. I was by myself this time, so knew I mustn’t fall in again. I paddled carefully up and down, and today saw loads of fish swimming around the corals, large and small, in all colours, shapes and sizes. It was great to just stop paddling and watch them swimming around the kayak. By the time I returned to shore, Colin was ready for some action too, so we decided to go snorkeling – we have done this a few times now and felt quite confident in the shallow waters. We saw lots of the usual fish and heaps of slimy slugs (that phrase rings a bell!) – some were coal black with suckers sprouting out the sides, lounging on the rocks, others were grey with black spots like we saw in Thailand, and some were stripy brown lying in the sand – ugh – they are all horrid. The tide was coming in fast, and the current was very strong, so that even with flippers it was sometimes hard to make any progress. But it was fun looking around the sea bed, trying to spot something new.

We sat back round the pool for a while before returning to our room for ‘Christmas lunch’! – rather snack – cheese and wine and crispy bits. A few of the guests here had opted to eat their Christmas dinner at lunch time and were tucking into turkey and trimmings. We sat on the balcony, reading and playing cards to pass a relaxing afternoon in the sun after all our exertions of the morning. We decided to have cocktails– which turned out to be lots of alcohol and little fruit juice – before preparing ourselves for dinner – we felt we should make the effort and dress up a little more tonight – not tiara and ball gown, but posh frock at least.

All the tables in Captain Andy’s had been reserved for those who had chosen to eat their meal this evening (the majority of the guests), so there was no problem with finding a table. But there were no crackers, and no decorations, and the music playing was old Sixties hits, not Christmas tunes. And the sun was still shining as we sat down – later we watched a beautiful orange sunset out over the reef. We didn’t fancy either of the starters (tomato and camembert soup or prawns and paw paw (no more please) in filo), so we went straight to the main course. The turkey had been boned and rolled and we had two thick slices each - they don’t eat the breast meat out here as they think it is tasteless!?!? There was stuffing, roast potatoes and a mixture of vegetables including cauliflower, carrots and beans (but no brussel sprouts with chestnuts or sausage and bacon rolls!), and . . . mango chutney – obviously an alternative to cranberry sauce – which in fact worked quite well. We chose the steamed fruit pudding with tropical fruits and coulis for dessert – the pudding was like a spotted dick overloaded with currants, but was a good substitute for Christmas pudding. And we complimented all of this with a bottle of Shiraz. We felt the hotel had successfully tried to provide traditional Christmas fayre, even if the ambience was not festive.

As we were finishing dinner, more crab races started nearby, and we watched as the little creatures were released and ran in all directions (number eight won again – I wonder if he was the same crab that won the other night) but luckily not escaping to the pool. Then it was time for Karioke! This was not a success, as only the words for the first song appeared on the screen, and then they continued with modern songs that no one knew the words to, so people drifted away, and soon the restaurant area was almost empty – they don’t know what they missed as Colin was up for singing “Love Me Tender” again. It would have been good to have last night’s singer perform again tonight.

Nothing for it but a bit of television and bed. Most people here feel that today is the first day of their summer holidays, and with the great weather we had today (our sun tans are back – they were fading a bit after coaching for a couple of months), they are looking forward to the next few weeks relaxation.