Chrissy in Exmouth

 Aussies can't just keep a two-syllable word as it is. Abbreviations don't even always abbreviate. Hence, Christmas is Chrissy. I think we discussed this last year. When I've pointed out this strange shorthand to Aussies, they remind me that it's so they don't have to open their mouths as much - keeps out the flies. Whatever.

The last couple of weeks have been really busy in the best way. My old boss at the dive shop seems to forget I exist for a couple of months at a time and then something will jog his memory and suddenly I find myself rostered on. The whalesharks and humpback whales have finished their migratory season through the area but Exmouth is still located on one of the world's most pristine reefs, the Ningaloo Reef. So these days it's work as a snorkel guide, showing people the magnificent corals and sea turtles and rays in the Murion Islands. 

With the holidays coming up, lots of my coworkers on the boat were leaving town to head home for weeks (or months), and someone reminded Mark that I'm still in town. Since the shop is running day trips up until mid-January, I am getting the impression that I'm going to have lots of days out on the boat. This week I was a snorkel guide two days and ran a scuba refresher course (for certified divers who just haven't been in the water for a while to brush up on their skills in a pool) on a third day. I just got a text asking me what my schedule looks like for next week because there's already at least one day that they'll need me. So the zinc sunblock I've got will be getting some good use (and I need to remember to apply it to the back of my neck!!!)!

Christmas day at the pub was busy busy busy. We were only open for lunch (and Western Australian law says that you can only serve alcohol with a meal on Christmas), so we had a blast serving folks and belting out Christmas carols and generally trying to keep people cool and happy (it was just over 100 degrees). 

Serving beers at the Pool Bar

After we finished up service and cleared everyone out, some of the girls stuck around for a swim in the pub pool to cool off and recharge before heading out to our various parties. Jimmy, one of my coworkers at the pub, was hosting an "Orphan's Christmas" for folks who don't have family in town. So I spent the evening hanging out at his house, watching first the sunset from his roof and then star gazing from it. Bonus: Jimmy is also friends with a bunch of my coworker friends from the dive shop! So I got to celebrate the day with friends from both jobs. I called it quits around 10 so I could get to bed before an early morning working on the boat!

Sophie, Me, Tiarna, and Manager Jess

I've been meaning for ages to show you some photos of my old dude pals from the front bar so here we go!

Stu

Boonie

Welshie

Stewie

This seems like a good time to mention that I've gone blonde. I decided that if ever in my life I was gonna be a blonde, Exmouth was the place to do it. All these backpackers who come to town for the busy season in the winter and shoulder months (March - October) and work on the whalesharking boats (like I do) are blonde and look the same. We make jokes about it all the time that all the sharkers, male and female, have long blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and are generally indistinguishable from each other. So I at least buck the trend by having short hair (which isn't likely to change anytime soon), but otherwise I'm going with a "when in Rome" attitude! The photo with Welshie was mid-process before the second (!) round of bleaching, but the Stewie pic was about 20 minutes ago as I was leaving the pub from my lunch shift. I wasn't sunburnt (promise, Mom!), just rosy from spending 4 hours in the pool bar in 103°F weather. 

I'm working a split shift today, but it was so busy that I worked another 40 minutes after I was "done." So I have to be back in about 45 minutes. When I got home I basically just laid on the floor in the living room soaking up the aircon (an Aussie abbreviation I can get behind) and then got motivated to finish this post. I forget what grand plans I had to talk about other things (I'm still supposed to do that "tour of the pub" post and I think that was on today's agenda... oops), but I want to make some egg salad for dinner. SO let's call this farewell. Merry Christmas, sending love and joy your way from Down Under!