Kick off to 2006

I cannot state that my New Years Eve went totally to plan.

At 5.30pm I lit the Weber barbeque, waiting anxiously for the “cool change” to come through so that it didn’t hasten to the quickness of the heat bead toting roast maker.

For those not in the know, a “cool change” at Christmas time in Adelaide, Australia doesn’t involve much of a temperature drop… just an increase in wind speed.

As the kettle was heating, I thought it prudent to rush down to the booze-o to grab a carton of mid strength beer, as guests would be arriving at 7.00ish. That would give plenty of time for everyone to gather around and smell the roasts, just enough to whet the appetite.

I thought I’d left it a bit late to fetch some beer and ice, due to the fact that everyone gets their shit together earlier than me, and maybe that bottle shops might close early on NYE.

Not a chance. Everything was open, and they had plenty of ice bags to fill my bathtub.

Into the bath went various varieties of wine, beer and spirits that I had lying around (I didn’t have enough beer, hence the booze-run), and on top of that went the ice.

A breeze had commenced, which prevented the kettle from getting too hot, too quickly. The coals were ready, so on went the 3 marinated roasts.

Guests arrived fashionably and typically late, but I had bargained on this. The place was well prepped and suitably pristine. Conversation flowed, laughs were had and drinks were drunk.

The roasts turned out beautifully. I left the carving to the group’s alpha male, and he complimented the chef on how the meat fell off the bones. Hearty cheers all around as people scoffed food, leaving only a small carcass of chicken bones and cow leg.

Drinks continued well into the night. At the stroke of midnight, cheers echoed into the breeze and swept through my empty group of flats. Fireworks popped and sizzled overhead from random parties a few blocks away. SMS’s from friends not in Adelaide or Australia surprisingly arrived on the stroke of midnight.

It all continued until 6am. I decided to go the whole way through to the following evening, but the moment I turned my back, everyone had departed. So I went to bed.

All in all, it was a flawless evening, with good times had.

So no. I can’t say that my NYE went to my original plan.

I had originally planned to get stuffed around, get calls late in the day to say that other plans had been arranged, that I would get messages from those I didn’t want to get messages from and that I would spend the evening laying on my roof, staring upwards as whoops and cheers from other neighbouring parties spit at my ears and carried upward towards the indifferent stars.

Not that I’m complaining. :)