Santa found us! Celebrating Christmas at Wellington National Park.

CHRISTMAS- Wellington National Park, WA

Friday 23rd - Wednesday 28th December

We had a fabulous Christmas at Wellington National Park, where we managed to score a secluded camp site for 3 nights, then one with water views for another 2 nights. We arrived on the 23rd and immediately began making our site and caravan 'Chrismassy'. We'd passed a pine plantation on the way and seen a small, lonely tree on the roadside that looked like it needed a new home. It was the perfect Christmas tree for us. We had a few basic decorations and the kids made beautiful nature themed baubles (with empty bauble cases that I'd got from Spotlight). We finished the tree off with a Christmas star we made from yellow leaves we'd found (and quite a bit of craft glue!). It looked great. The kids also made wreaths from a prickly, holly like plant that was growing near camp. We added Christmas lights and some festive tunes and finally it felt like Christmas.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent feasting, enjoying the water in between feasting, sharing gifts, playing with new toys & games, video calling our families (and feeling homesick afterwards), walking and riding the trails around camp and just enjoying the great weather and being together in such a beautiful place. 

The kids had made both Daniel and I lovely gifts (they’d hand sewn bags and filled them with chocolates, then bought a Kombi keyring for Daniel and handcream for me, then Emilia did me a fabulous detailed mermaid drawing), and we were so surprised. They'd done really well keeping it a secret from us. They loved all of their presents (from Santa and from us) and enjoyed having the time to try out all their new things over the following days. 

 On Boxing Day we moved sites to a great spot with water views. We just relaxed over the next two  days and walked/rode/swam in between feasting on all the leftovers. 

Although we all missed being with family over Christmas, we still had a really memorable time.

Emilia and the wreath she made using a prickly plant that was growing near camp.

The kids got gifts for each other and decided to exchange them on Christmas Eve- they were very happy with what they got. Jackson got Emilia a Total Girl magazine and a Crunchie and Emilia got Jackson a slinky and a Crunchie too- clearly they have similar tastes!!

We spent about 20 minutes paddling around trying to get a good picture of us all together..it was great fun. We managed to get Daniel and the kids standing up on the paddle board for a few minutes before they wobbled and fell off!

Making the bon-bons for Christmas Day- we filled them with chocolates.

Emilia got the job of popping the first bottle of bubbles- - it took all of her strength (see the funny expression in the first photo), but both kids were pretty excited when the cork shot out into the air! 

Our Christmas Eve seafood feast- fresh prawns, garlic prawns, marinated crayfish and salmon with a mango, mint and quinoa salad. It was all incredible.

We relaxed with a funny Christmas movie (A Sunburnt Christmas) on Christmas Eve- it was a mild evening and it was lovely sitting outside near the Christmas tree. 

The kids were so pleased with their gifts from Santa - they both got kites which they were super excited about.

After opening all their presents from Santa, we moved over to the tree where they got even more presents from Daniel and I (**take note of Emilia's outfits - every time she got a new item of clothing she had to put it on!).

The kids were extremely happy with all their Christmas presents- Santa did well!

The Christmas day feasting begins...french toast with berries for breakfast.

Then a platter with all the fancy things we normally don't buy for lunch.

Daniel whipping the cream for the meringues- we didn't have electric beaters so we improvised! I actually had the song 'Whip It' playing in the background to inspire him!!

We decided to do dessert before dinner - this is our late afternoon dessert platter- trifle, cheesecake, chocolate brownie and mini meringues.

The kids and the awesome bon-bons they made.

Our Christmas dinner - honey & maple baked ham, potato salad (with prosciutto and sundried tomatoes), grilled asparagus and quinoa and mango salad. All washed down with a few glasses of sparkling. It was all delicious. 

Jackson loved the slingshot rocket launcher Santa got him! We all had fun shooting it and dodging it when it came back down.

Enjoying the water - and trying to get a bit of exercise ready for the next feast!

We had to wait until Boxing Day to decorate the gingerbread house as it had been too hot. The kids spent an hour and a half perfecting the 3 sections they each had (and probably eating lots of the lollies and icing whilst the decorated!).

Jackson loved his Christmas shirt and was still wearing it 3 days later.