Love hearing about other people’s travelling experiences, so we hold themed travelling tale jamborees on our Facebook Page.
Last month it was Music Travelling Tales
As we travel towards the festive season, this month its…
Christmas Travelling Tales
Linda Fairbairn
Some of my most special Christmases have been when there are small children about as the magic and excitement of the season is then so electric… But one of my travelling Christmases was having crossed the Nullarbor Plain from the east coast of Australia to the west in a converted ex-Ambulance and we camped at Yallingup (close to Margaret River) where I awoke to the wonderful sound of Indian Ocean waves washing up on the shore at the foot of my bed and… a stocking filled with goodies ~ Love the way Santa tracks you down no matter what crevice of the world you’re tucked away in 😉
Christmas morning at Yallingup, Western Australia
It wasn’t until I opened a box of Christmas Decorations I remembered my only Christmas away from home. I was a woeful 16yr old travelling on an escorted Bus tour of New Zealand with my parents,( & 40 or so other aged passengers) Sadly missing my friends & what was the pre courser to “schoolies” in Nth Qld at Magnetic Island. A dear old lady travelling alone presented everyone on tour with a small gift on Christmas day. I was given a tiny angel fashioned from a Golf tee & some beads, a simple token from a sweet woman who I don’t even know by name, long gone by now. However each year- over 20 now- that angel sits on my tree, she’s tattered and old now, shadowed by the shiny new baubles & flashy lights, but still she sits a fond memory of how the gift of giving can make a difference in someones day. I’ll share this story with my 6 yr old this year when we hang the tree, he probably won’t get it but I hope one day he will.
All my Christmases have been spent either in Cornwall or Sydney Australia. First Christmas away from home I was 21, beautiful sunny day in Sydney, 35 degrees plus, didn’t feel like Christmas until we got to Pittwater where I was invited to lunch along with fellow my Sydney to Hobart Crew members. Had never eaten that many prawns (or prawns that big) or oysters in one sitting. Followed up with a paddle around Pittwater. Couldn’t have been more different from what I had been used to but wonderful all the same.
Annabel Candy
When I’m travelling I go out of my way to avoid the trappings of Christmas but I do remember one December spent camping on the beach in Kenya.
We were on the coast south of Mombasa in an amazing spot called Twiga. One night there was a terrible thunder storm. It poured as only it can in the tropics and it seemed as if we were up all night, curled up in a tiny space to escape the damp seeping in from all sides of the tent. We must have slept in the end though because when I woke up in the morning a tiny kitten had somehow crept into the tent, under the mosquito net and was curled up on my pillow. Beautiful. It was a wonderful awakening.
Glancing over at my boyfriend (now husband) I saw that he too had a small critter curled up next to his face on the pillow – it was one of those giant black African centipedes as thick as your finger and a foot long! I still laugh about it today but he can’t see the funny side 😉
Happy holidays everyone 🙂
Something tells me I’d still choose my food poisoning over Annabel’s husbands foot long centipede any day!
ROFL!!! 😀
I think I might agree!!
I’m with Sally and Linda … I DO NOT like the idea of waking up with a centipede!!!
This year I think I’ll create my first ‘christmas travelling tale’ as my husband and I pack our 2 boys, 5 & 3 into the car for a 3-day drive from Brisbane to Port Lincoln (South Australia). Whilst the actual trip *to* our destinatio has many of our friends questioning our sanity, I’m approaching it with a sense of discovery and adventure. And once there, looking forward to celebrating my mum’s long-held dream of building her dream house in her dream city … and discovering another part of this incredible country we live in.
Beaches, seafood and wineries … Here we come.
Oh … And I’ve already packed the Journey Jottings map journal, so we can show the boys where we are, where we’ve been and record the adventure as it happens 🙂
That sounds like a great trip!
Email me if you need any extras!!
Click on the following link for a downloadable “How many animals can you spot on the Map Journal” (27 for reference!) if you’re looking for a few occupational diversions along the way –
Using one as a “Post Office Passport” (if they’re open as you pass!!) is another 🙂
Happy travels!
Lol, love the centipede pic! But not as much as the pics of you and Sally:)
Annabel Candy, Get In the Hot Spot recently posted..What’s Brewing at Get In the Hot Spot
Thanks Annabel ~
So pleased you think Sally and I look more appealing than the centipede 😉
Pingback: Christmas Travelling Tales ~ Part 2 | Journey Jottings
Can’t say I am keen on having that centipede crawling up my arms as you do. Looks great but you can keep that experience to yourself thanks.
Great blog though.
tony recently posted..Sydney
There’s a bit of a debate raging –
Which would you prefer – food poisoning or waking up beside a centipede?
Must be a fear of the unknown, as otherwise it seems strange that we’d opt for hours of food poisoning – which is truly horrible 😉
Hi Linda,
Good job on a holiday themed post! So fun. I especially love the photo of you at a younger age! So very cute, my dear!
Happy holidays to all, filled with lots of love and big warm hugs.
Josie
Josie recently posted..Five Off-the-Beaten Track Must-Sees for the New Year
Hi Josie ~
Hehe!! As you’d know you feel the same no matter what you look like on the outside 😉
Thanks so much for the season’s greetings –
All the very best to you too – Hope one day we’ll cross paths in real life!
Linda,
Yes, would love to meet up someday, too!
Josie