Our delicious afternoon tea consisted of finger sandwiches (no crusts!) - with cucumber, ham, chicken, cheese and salmon. Oh, and an egg and mayo roll. Half way through, they brought out some freshly baked apple and sultana scones, which we devoured with strawberry jam and clotted cream. To top it all off we had a selection of cakes and pastries. There was an impressive tea menu of 20 odd varieties of tea, from which we selected the darjeeling - the 'champagne' of teas, from the foothills of the Himalaya (which we thought was a good omen for us), and not a bad drop!
Having a scone and a cuppa, on Pat and Pete - cheers!
We started our day with a lovely bubbly bottle of Gosset while opening our presents and preparing lunch. Here's Shannon opening the Burgundy which we had with lunch - a 1999 Pommard
We went with the Aussie tradition of a little seafood for starters. Here's a picture of me eating my last ever oyster...
Henry having his own little Christmas dinner 
We had a lovely lunch of ham and roast turkey, accompanied by roast vegetables and the much maligned british brussel sprouts, which actually weren't too bad. We've really taken to the traditional British accompaniments of little chipolata sausages wrapped in bacon, and stuffing balls to accompany the roast dinner - yum!
And to finish, Pat's delicious Christmas pud, all the way from Oz 
We had a really lovely, relaxing, delicious Christmas day at home with our little man. It wasn't quite a white Christmas in the end, but nevertheless our last winter Christmas for a while. We had a lovely day, but we're also really looking forward to being back with our family and friends next Christmas
It of course goes without saying that Henry was delighted with his frosty new playground. You can see more wintery photos on our flickr page: 'It's Snowing Again...'
A few training laps in the Alfa Romeo...
Before jumping in a Formula Ford 2000....
A change of pace with the E type Jaguar...
Then some wind in the hair with the AC Cobra...
Regua at night, with Nossa Senhora dos Remedios church lit up on the hilltop in the background...
The beautiful bride Christine, and her dad, arriving at the church...
Nossa Senhora dos Remedios...
The view from the top of the hill, outside the church. The previous wedding party is having photos near the fountain, looking out over Regua. (Smoke from a bushfire in the background)...
Inside the church... 
Christine and Carlos, tying the knot. The ceremony was half in Portuguese, half in English. Their lovely Portuguese priest had recently learned English especially for the ceremony. He had only six lessons with Carlos' sister, and he did really well! 
The happy couple... 
This photo reminds me of our wedding day. This is Carlos' Portuguese 'Little Nan'... 
After the ceremony, we were taken over to a Quinta (winery) in Lamego for the reception... 
The barrel room in the quinta... 
Carlos and Shannon, looking handsome... 
Following our recovery from the wedding festivities, we hit the port wine trail through the Duoro Valley, following the Duoro River visiting several Quintas along the way....
A break for lunch at Vintage House, Pinhao...
Lamego... 
Before flying back to the UK, we called into Porto and toured through Vila Nova De Gaia, where all the port lodges are located. The grapes are grown in the Duoro Valley along the steep banks of the river Duoro, and where they are made into port wine. The climate is much cooler in Porto, and therefore it's a more suitable location of storing and bottling the port. The port used to be transported down river in the old style port boats. It's done by truck now, but the lodges in Porto are still the main hub for storage and distibution of port around the world. 
Port barrels at Grahams...
The most recent vintage, 2009, was a pearler. So stay tuned for the next 20 years and we'll let you know when it's ready for drinking!
