Hilary's Adventure: Christmas Eve Day

Today was the day before Christmas. Everyone had arrived that was going to be around for Christmas so the house was full. We had 12 people (including us) staying at the house in Guernsey. Getting up in the morning and trying to get breakfast was a bit on the hectic side. Luckily everyone was up and out of bed at different times so it wasn’t too bad. When it came time for everyone to shower that, was a completely different matter. Everyone seemed to want a shower all at the same time. Getting out the door was as Trish loved to say is like herding cats. You would tell everyone has to be ready for 11.30am but really we didn’t need to be ready till 12pm. Most of the time this theory worked until they worked out they had time up their sleeves so they would just fiddle even more.

Trish and Michael had hired a 7 seater car so they decided to go for a drive round the Island and see what there was. I managed to get a seat in the car so I was off for the adventure too. Kyle was sound asleep in bed so I just left him to his snoring. Michael was driving with the boot driver being Trish. Because the car was a 7 seater there were 3 rows of seats instead of the normal 2. The last row was in the boot. These seats where small so the smallest got the privilege of seating in the boot seats. As Trish was one of the smallest she and Noriko were the lucky winners. I was quick of the mark and managed to get the front seat, avoiding seating with the 3 boys in the back.

I must say it was one of the noisiest car journeys I have been on for a long time. The screams, laughing and yelling could be quite deafening at times. Jack and Greg spent the whole time niggling each other which annoyed Trish which started the yelling which started a circle of niggling, laughing then yelling. I think Trish nearly lost her voice by the end of the day. It was all very amusing and lost of laughs where to be had.

On the journey we visited Crabby Jack’s. We had to get a pic of Jack next to the sign. Crabby Jack’s was a beach side Café/restaurant that had nice views over the water. We only stopped for about ½ an hour for a tea break. As most of us had only just eaten breakfast before leaving so we didn’t need lunch.

Next on the list of places we visited was the Little Chapel. Kyle and I had seen it the day before so it wasn’t new to me but it was to everyone else. It is reported to be the smallest chapel in the world. It is covered in broken plates and shells. It looks quite amazing in person.

For the rest of the day we just got lost on the Island. We tried to follow the ocean round but houses would get in the way and road would start to head in land. The roads on Guernsey are small, most of the time if a car was heading towards you someone had to mount the side walk so we could pass without hitting each other. I have no idea how people drive in big 4WD and trucks.

Back at the house after our afternoon exploring we all dived in for a late lunch. At was about 4pm and everyone was hungry and tired. After lunch everyone headed into the garage to have a hit of table tennis to kill the time before dinner.

After dinner we all retired to the tv room to chill out. Some people were heading off to midnight masses later so they were trying to stay awake. There was great debate over who was going to which church and which was going to have the most carols. Needless to say I didn’t go to either. Neither did the boys or Noriko.

At midnight I was allowed to open the box of goodies that my parents had sent me. I was allowed to open the box on the bases that it may not be a Christmas present, just a box of things my mum had sent me. Once I opened it, it became quite evident that it was for Christmas because my dad had individually wrapped in Christmas paper chocolates from Australia. So I had to put the box back under the tree and wait till we all opened presents before I could unwrap and start eating my goodies. After the big ordeal of what’s in the box I went to bed. It was going to be a big day tomorrow.