Christmas in shorts and bathing suits is certainly an experience we wont soon forget. Forgotten were the toques, the mittens, the heavy winter coats. Although we did feel a bit of a yearning for the fluffy white stuff, sand and ocean are “suitable” substitutes. Who are we kidding?! Spending Christmas Day on the beach was as much fun as it was surreal. On the beach by 10:30am, we were body surfing the waves in no time, and taking in the rays. Many hours later, exhausted but stoked by the memories of a great day, we trekked back to the city. A reach into my pocket and low and behold, our trusty “navy approved” Ziploc bags had opened and let water rush in, thereby soaking our week bus/train/ferry passes (which we had just bought the day before) beyond function. I thought to myself “wow… it’s a long swim back to the city”, but Leigh put on her puppy eyes and we were able to get a free ride on the ferry back into the city. Not that all was lost: we did have some cash left over and were pleased to discover that the paper money is coated such that it is impermeable and thus survived in a way I wish our travel passes would have.
Arriving home, we agreed that the day was one of the best ever. But as we were soon to discover, it was far from over…
The first indication of things gone awry was the fact that I had been transformed into Lobster Justin. As red as red can be, I began to realize that I had only applied sunscreen once, in the morning, and fairly haphazardly to be sure. Looking down at my feet, I also realized that I hadn’t put any sunscreen at all on them, an oversight I am still paying for 2 weeks later. Aside from our sunburns (Leigh was also burnt, but not nearly as bad as me), there was more fun to come. The shakes came on about an hour later. To the uninitiated, shivering uncontrollably for 2 hours when your are burning hot is not a fun experience; not for me, and not for Leigh who was worried sick. A quick phone call to the hospital revealed that I was likely dehydrated, a diagnosis which made sense given that I hadn’t drunk anything all day and swallowed heaps of salt water. Smart Justin. Smart. So after taking many showers and guzzling down about 1000 Litres of water, the shivering subsided much to my relief.
Christmas in Sydney... gotta love it. Next time, Ill remember to pack my head.
