26.12.16

A Very Merry TRACC Christmas

The number one question I was asked by my friends and family before I left to TRACC was "what will you do for Christmas?!". I had worried looks and concerns about my orphan status on a tropical island with no one I knew yet. I wasn't overly concerned about what my Pom Pom Christmas would hold- a perfect Christmas to me is about being relaxed and happy around family and friends, and sharing delicious food. The three weeks I had had at Pom Pom had already exceeded my expectations.

Nevertheless, when I arrived I couldn't help asking my dive instructor Gov in private- what does TRACC do for Xmas? He responded (in a classically Gov way)- well what do you do in New Zealand? I said, we eat food, go to the beach, eat more food, and pass out in a food coma. And he said well that's exactly what we'll do. Perfect!
Christmas Day began in the lazy Pompom way, with people awaking one by one with a "merry Christmas". We then pulled out the Christmas hats, dive tanks, and set up for our Christmas dive. On Christmas Eve, Allia and I had made a badass driftwood Christmas tree. We decided to attach some weights to it and take it into the ocean. At 30 metres a group of 10 of us met up with our beloved concrete octopus (made by past volunteer Tomo). After attaching a Santa hat to its head we took our seasons greeting TRACC Christmas photo (and plenty of selfies!) before checking out house reef. We had a little bit of trouble bringing the Christmas tree back to land after it became waterlogged- but it was all part of the Christmas fun.

After the dive we had a light lunch and lazed around in the sun. Around 3pm everyone started preparing a dish to share for our feast. We made a bonfire and shared some pina colada (with real fruit and coconut- thanks Vanessa!) before digging into an eclectic meal consisting of duck, baked potato, portagese rice, garlic bread, soup, green veges and more piƱa colada! We then hung out playing games and sharing laughs into the evening
My TRACC Christmas was one to remember, but in all honesty had everything a kiwi Christmas needs- sunshine, beach, great food and my fantastic TRACC family.