You know those public scenes that are hilarious if you're an observer, but excruciatingly embarrassing if you're involved? Well, ours came at midday on Xmas Day, here in Coogee Bay. What started out as a distant and irritating wail became an increasingly louder 'BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPP', a non-stop assault on the eardrums reaching its magnificent crescendo outside our flat (surprise, surprise) where it happily continued uninterrupted.

We looked outside to see a car stopped in the middle of the road; the driver standing with his hand still on the horn, bare-chested but wearing his pants over his trousers, clutching a long-neck of beer; the passenger wearing a Santa hat and dancing on the car roof. Just two of our new Viking flatmates, unperturbed by the looks of hatred from our neighbours. For an unforgettable image of 'Brits on the piss abroad', it takes some beating.

So the first thing we did on Xmas Day was dis-associate ourselves from the 17 Vikings now in our flat! Although the day didn't pan out exactly as we'd hoped, it was still good fun.

First off was our Xmas Day dip in the ocean - well, it would've been rude not to. Then we had the closest thing to being back in the UK, which was opening our Xmas parcels from our families - great fun. With a few friends we then set off on the 2-3km coastal walk to Bondi, stopping at a couple of bays to pop champagne corks. Bondi was pretty busy, with a big beach party going on, so we grabbed some food, then chilled out on the beach before heading home for more drinks back at the flat.

Boxing Day morning saw a whole heap of new faces asleep on the front room floor, so we escaped by heading down to Randwick races to have a flutter on the gee-gees. A really humid day, and a great laugh even though we hardly won a dollar.

During this 2 day period, the closest we got to a proper Xmas dinner was... not very close at all - lasagne, chips and Thai food! You may be jealous of our weather, but right now we're jealous of your food!