While it is not the best time (it is Christmas Eve, after all), we need to spend the morning giving the truck a big end of trip clean. We did not want to do it after celebrating Christmas, so we had to get it done. They also started to roast the pig. After scrubbing gray boxes, the back locker, the inside, the tents, the windows, etc, we were finally finished at around noon.
Some of us decided to head back into town. We had calls to make and emails to check. Some also had last minute shopping. It was nice to call home and speak to the folks back in Florida and Kuala Lumpur. Back at the campsite, Lars worked on his journal, while Jacqui helped some of the other group prepare the big Christmas feast.
It was quite a feast that was cooked up. Cannot really remember all the food that was prepared, but it included many starters, a whole spit-roasted pig, some excellent tuna (for the non-pig eaters, which included us), pasta salad, green salad, boiled potatoes, apple sauce, and some cakes for dessert. We stuff ourselves on all this excellent food (and wine, of course).
After dinner, we hang around the camp and the fire talking and further enjoying our wine. But then, we go and get the extra dessert that we had prepared earlier that day (and Tom and Heather had been kind enough to lend us the use of their fridge). It is vodka jelly (and with only the best quality vodka!!!). Jacqui does her usual good job (see the Best Parties from our Trans-Africa) in "pouring" the vodka jelly. It is a big hit and the party gets going from there. Paolo, Tom and Lars enjoy a cigar and some single malt (in addition to the vodka jelly, of course).
The celebrations carry on into the night. It is hard to remember all that happens, but there are recollections of some one jumping into the pool, smooching against Tom and Heather's bedroom window (good thing you did not crash through the glass), friendly small talk, heated discussions on geo-politics (now I know why politics should never be discussed at a party amongst a diverse group), some people rolling in the sand, singing (how does that always seem to make it in these accounts), an ill person near our tent and someone returning to the campsite at 7 AM the next morning wishing us all a Merry Christmas (thanks for that).