For the last few years, my Dad’s side of the family has spent the weekend before Christmas together down at the beach. It’s a nice way to catch up without having the stress of being in three places at once on The Big Day and it also means people can enjoy a drink (important for a Brewin family event) and stay for the night.

I caught the red eye flight from Perth on Saturday night which put me down on the Great Ocean Road by late Sunday morning, meaning I missed sangria, raucous carol singing and a trip to the pub with the young ones that involved sneaking my 17 year old cousin shots the night before. Spewing.

So by Sunday lunch time, despite the fact that I was hideously tired, I was keen to catch up. Sunday started as most good things do, with cheese:

Last year my sister bought $150 worth of cheese that my female cousins and I annihilated within 15 minutes. With my sister in Samoa this year, my aunt Jane was given the task of bringing the cheese and we weren’t disappointed. There was so much we couldn’t even finish all the cheese, but boy we sure did try. It was delicious.

After the cheese we began opening presents. We did a family Kris Kringle this year plus my Grandma gets everyone a gift every year and every one gets my Grandma a gift, so there was plenty of loot to get through. A few of us tried to take a sip of our drinks every time my Grandma’s name was mentioned, but lost count and gave up early in the piece.

Afterwards we moved on to my uncle Simon’s pork, turkey, ham, lamb and salads followed by Greta and Lily’s much loved mince pies, plus many other desserts.

Aunty Jo’s cheesecake:

After a very serious amount of eating many of us fell deep into food comas, thankfully I wasn’t the first to fall asleep and was able to capture this photo on my phone:

If that isn’t a quintessential Christmas image I don’t know what is. That photo is getting quite a bit of love on Facebook for obvious reasons.

After a kip and a movie (Blades of Glory… random but hilarious) a bunch of us headed to the beach for some fresh air. I’m sure many of us felt our tummies were brushing against the ground, but Maisy’s definitely came the closest:

Some of the cousins and Hugo the hound:

We made up a game I coined ‘Pleasant Ball’ which basically involved someone throwing the ball into someone else’s cupped hands, without the catcher moving. It was about as boring as it sounds and we only lasted one round.

My Dad, looking very Elton John here in his new glasses, and uncle John were the only two to brave the water.

Dachshunds are my all time favourite dogs. Can’t wait to get one when I grow up. That night we (and most of Melbourne/Victoria) were treated to a spectacular sunset.

The next morning we had breakfast in freezing Anglesea before heading back to Melbourne. Then I borrowed a car and headed up north into country Vic to my Mum’s for the next leg, which has so far involved a lot more eating. More to come.