A very unexpected Christmas

Let's recount our Christmas and New Year escapades, shall we?…

Our plans were modest: a quiet holiday at home, just the two of us. We had arranged a delightful dinner in the city at Hellenika (our favourite restaurant), followed by midnight mass on Christmas Eve. However, as we busied ourselves with Christmas preparations, a storm disrupted our plans.

Let's reminisce about our Christmas and New Year's escapades, shall we?…

Though not overly fierce, this storm brought a sudden "FLANG" near our house—( we called it a flang, a combo of flash/bang being that the lightning strike and thunderclap happened all at once) which left us in darkness. After reaching out to neighbours, we realised we were alone in the power outage. Energex confirmed a lightning strike had damaged our switchboard, necessitating an electrician's expertise, but reassured us that it could have been a lot worse and that we were fortunate the house didn’t catch fire.

Our dinner plans and city trip were dashed. Instead, we fired up the generator to keep our meat freezers cold. Out here no power, means no water, internet, and cell reception.

On Christmas morning, we ventured to Starbucks for caffeine and internet to find an electrician. After a few hours, success! We returned home with fuel and ice, hopeful for power on Boxing Day.

Running the generator became a full-time job, but Clancy handled it well. We stole moments for a Christmas day swim in the creek and prawn rolls. However, on Christmas evening, another storm—a mini-tornado—hit. I was in the house, Clancy in the shed. It was wild. Afterward, we were amazed the damage wasn’t worse. Unfortunately, most of the Gold Coast lost power, sadly some homes were completely destroyed. At this point we were counting our blessings and it would be eleven days without power. We decided to postpone Christmas and new years festivities and just focus on what needed to be done to get back up and running again.

Thankfully, our trusty generator kept our freezers running. Once power returned, we started to repair the damage, relishing simple luxuries like putting the dishwasher and washing machine on.

Our hearts go out to all those affected by the storms. It was a time of loss, yet also one of community solidarity—a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

Emerging from the chaos, we celebrated Christmas and New Year on January 6th with a roast dinner, homemade bonbons, and our favourite Christmas film. Clancy even adorned the table with a splendid brass chandelier, lending an air of grandeur to the occasion.

We share these snapshots of our festivities with you, hoping they bring as much joy to you as they did to us. May your Christmas have been filled with warmth and love amidst the company of cherished ones.