Poor Mouse

Poor Mouse.  I was so excited when he agreed to come to Brisbane for Christmas.  It was going to be our first Aussie Christmas; our first winter holidays in the southern hemisphere.  After a lifetime of spending December swathed in cold and snow, I looked forward to such unfamiliar territory.  He was hesitant, thanks to the exorbitant tickets prices, but I persisted.   I sold him my fantasy of us lazing about the beach, drinking cold beer, and frolicking in the sand and waves.  I talked about nothing but the imminent sunshine and surf.  Finally, he caved, and I started planning.  I booked a hotel room on the Gold Coast and a campsite in Byron Bay. (At $64 per day, no less!)  After tiring of the beach, we were meant to head inland for a little mountain hiking, wine tasting, and more camping.  Of course, none of that happened.  Instead, we got rain, rain, and more rain. 

Like I said… Poor Mouse.  He flew halfway across the world to get stuck in three continuous weeks of rain.  Sure, we had the hotel room on the Gold Coast, but were stuck inside it the entire time; not exactly the sand-laden days we had dreamt of.  Our campsite in Byron was flooded.  And heading inland was out of the question; that entire region had been cut off from civilization, thanks to the heavy rains.  Instead, we spent most of our holidays stuck in the apartment, watching bad television.  And then there were the floods…  Needless to say, this certainly wasn’t the tropical paradise retreat I imagined it to be.  Mouse finally left this Wednesday, nearly moldy from all the rain, and with a bad taste of Australia in his mouth.  After all of this disappointment, I may just owe him a weekend in Mexico.