Some Australians have a tradition of celebrating Christmas in their cold weather season, usually during the relatively chilly month of July. So, some friends and I headed down south (remember this is the southern hemisphere) and celebrated an x’mas, aussie style.

We stayed in a spectacular house on a hill in the wine region of Western Australia, Margaret River. The place had gorgeous views and although the weather was variable we were lucky to get some sunny moments.

Naturally, as with any occasion here, lot of wine is involved. Some entertaining us with their outsides as well as their insides....

And the done thing in Marg’s generally tends to be a wine tour, no matter how many times you’ve been down there. So we headed out with a suitably named tour group and filled up the bus with good cheer and expectant camaraderie.

We sniffed, tasted and mixed, sipped and gurgled and not a drop was wasted in a spittoon.

Of course, as the day progressed there was an increasing sense of general well-being.
Which of course meant that a lot of wine was purchased as well as consumed

Which naturally led to a degeneration of behaviour....

Overall, a good weekend was had but most of us had to work on Monday. So the cars were packed

and the wine safely loaded. And we bid goodbye to the place, till next time....

Merry Christmas!!!