Christmas with IN BED

Above: Image by Sam Riles

We asked our contributors how they will be celebrating Christmas and what they have planned for the summer ahead. Above: Image by Sam Riles

Elisha Kennedy, editor

We’re having a big dinner with friends, everyone’s bringing a dish over and we’ll all pile up our plates and sit on the deck listening to the cockatoos screech over Frank Sinatra Christmas Songs. Boxing Day will be an early morning swim at Kurnell and prawn rolls for lunch, as always.

This summer we’ll be hopping up and down the NSW coast, fishing, diving for mussels and cooking simple meals back at our campsite. I’ll try to get through the pile of good books I’ve acquired throughout the year and I’ll probably spend all my money on Stone & Wood.

Greta van der Star, photographer

This year Christmas will be spent floating between friends and stopping for lunch with my grandad which always involves trifle and other 70’s looking fare. After Christmas my boyfriend and I will pack a suitcase of film and cameras and fly to Dunedin to embark on a South Island road trip through the Catlins and up the wild West Coast. We’re planning to seek out as many tea rooms, light houses and sea-beaten towns as possible.

Above: Image by Greta van der Star

Jess Kneebone, writer

This summer will be very relaxed for me. I can not wait to stand still and breath out. We’re staying away from the beach this year so it’ll be parks, BBQ’s and beers under the sun’s hot hand. Cheers to the long days and the lazy nights!

Sophie McComas, writer

‘The Summer Sophie Ate All The Mangoes’ is about to take flight. I intend to eat them by the crate, for breakfast, with ice-cream and whizzed up with ice and gin. There might be some peaches thrown in and a wedge of watermelon here and there, but for the most part it’ll be heavy, golden mangoes for me. I’m going to eat them on the lawn, sprawled out on my belly, toes in the air. I’m going to swaddle them in paper and pack them in my bag to eat on the rocks at the beach, their juice washing off my skin in the water. I’ll slice them up on the porch at my parents’ place and watch the kangaroos bounce and shake off the morning dew. I’ll eat them greedily, lazily, triumphantly, ravenously before flinging their skins into the compost, ready for more. Did someone mention Christmas ham? Didn’t think so.

Above: Image by Sam Riles

Sam Riles, photographer

This summer I plan to get out of the house as much as possible, lie in the sun and swim all day. I’ll be buying mangoes by the tray from roadside stalls and plan to travel up north to Queensland with my boyfriend. This summer I will also try and embrace the now and enjoy this time to relax and switch off.

Above: Image by Yasmine Ganley

Yasmine Ganley, writer & photographer

My mum is French so there’s a tradition to celebrate Christmas on the evening of Christmas Eve. Christmas Day I’ll be heading down to the Coromandel with my other family for banquet lunch, bubbles and (hopefully) a surf!

There’s been a few invitations to head up north this summer. We’ve planned a few nights camping on a friend’s orchard in Leigh over New Years. And if the weather is right, we’ll drive north to my favourite beaches: Whananaki and Spirits Bay. Later in summer, we’ve planned a few nights on Kawau Island, a kayak around the Abel Tasman National Park, and overnight bunking on Tiritiri Matangi Island.

Above: Image by Yasmine Ganley

Hannah-Rose Yee, writer

I’m celebrating in a very casual manner this year: nearest and dearest family and nobody else. We’ll eat cherries and pavlova and prawns and day-old birthday cake. (My birthday is on Christmas Eve! Double the celebrations!) As for summer, I have no plans at all. It’s been a big year and the Christmas break is a time to try and unwind. You’ll find me at the beach (anyone will do) and reading the stacks of books piling up next to my bed.