Well if you’re away from family and friends for Christmas the next best thing is to be with like minded people out in the country enjoying nature at it’s best.
This is how Chris and I spent our Christmas day. After going into Armidale to church in the morning,which Chris will tell you about, we came home to prepare our contribution to Christmas lunch. There are about 11 caravans/campers here at the moment and little groups have formed. Ours had 16 people from 7 of the vans. Each had been given suggestions on what to bring from Linda who organising the lunch. You need someone like this for any event to run smoothly.
One of the gifts I received from ACU when I left was a new recipe book to help me find keep “The best of” recipes. You know the way it goes, everyone has a special recipe and on the road is the best place to find them. Your world opens up, it’s not just your family and friends swapping recipes. These people have the time and the experience of a lot of years and professions and most of all years living on the road.
The menu for lunch was large and varied. Dips and crackers, Bruchette platers and vol-a-vents and prawns freshly cooked in a scrumptious sauce. Ham, turkey, chicken, pork and lamb were the meat choices, someroasted on an ingenious spit. The salads came out, roasted potato/sweet potato in a whole egg creamy mayo, fresh coleslaw, tossed salad, waldoff salad and my new addition to the recipe book a mango salad. Yummy. There were the hot roasted vegies as well. No one went hungry and we could have fed a small country. Then came the desserts. Rum balls, cherries, home made plum pudding, Christmas cake and a rum & raisin ice cream cake made with sponge rolls around the outside with the ice cream in the middle. This all went down with brandy custard and rum cream.
It’s amazing what can come out of a caravan fridge and oven. Everyone of this group is living on the road permanently. We are the newbie’s, being on the road for only a year. They have seen places we’ve never heard of and we write down places they recommend.
After the food was put away – so the fly’s could leave – the musical instruments came out, guitars, banjo’s, ukelele, harmonica’s, gidee sticks and a Murrumbidgee River Rattler. We spent the rest of the afternoon singing. Occasionally one or two would wander away to have a nanny nap and then, when refreshed, would come back to join the group once more.
We spoke to all the family between Christmas eve and Christmas day. Chris got his Lifesaver bottle that we’ve wanted for a while. I got spoilt. I received a Kindle eBook reader so I don’t have to have a supply of books in the van. As well, I got a new travel cup. This one doesn’t leak so it won’t drip over the Lambs wool seat covers. I also received a voucher for a massage and facial in the next town of choice. Thank you Lacey for doing up the voucher it looked great.
