This is not a job you would want to be doing in 30 degrees!
I'm finding it very difficult to get my head around the Christmas build up here. You would think, as an old retailer, I would be used to getting in to the Christmas spirit from about September, but mid summer is just really strange. I scurried sweltering into a shopping centre last week, looking forward to the air con when I heard 'Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow' singing out all around the mall!
Mind you, it was even odder to see all the Santas and reindeer in the shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur.
However, we are doing our best to feel Christmassy. Ian was missing putting out his lights on the house (yes we have one of those houses usually) so he has now decorated the caravan.
We went to collect Monty from the quarantine station in Melbourne this weekend. His release day was Sunday but we set of Friday lunchtime and stopped for the night in Albury on the NSW/Victoria border, which is where we saw the santa.

Albury is a smart, reasonably sized town and we checked into a motel attached to a pub which was pretty busy as many young farmers from outlying areas come into the town for the weekend. There were girls dressed up to the nines drinking bright green drinks and hoping to attract the attention of these chaps but they only seemed interested in sticking together and gambling. I was astonished to discover that Australian pubs, clubs and RSLs have rows and rows of slot machines and usually a betting shop area. Austalians would bet on how long it was going to take a fly to drown in their soup!

Anyway, we set off next morning for Melbourne and finally found the quarantine station in a grotty little place called Spotwood. Monty was due out at 9.30am the next day so we found a campsite in a place called Werribee. It was very much like Norfolk, very flat with fields of cabbages. It also had a touch of the Yiewsleys about it, my Chantry colleagues will know what I mean - lots of very fat women with home drawn tattoos.
It was quite a nice spot to watch boats coming in from fishing trips though and there was a beautiful sunset.
We finally collected Monty who seemed none the worse for
his adventure.