TOPICS: Kite-surfing Santas: photos 

The Surfing Santas – otherwise known as Craig Shales, Franz Riembauer and James Vandervoot – put on a show at Nobbys Beach to beat the heat in the build-up to the big day. 

And the trio were not afraid to get the red suit wet, performing a number of impressive aerial and freestyle tricks.  

Don't come the raw prawn about lining up, mate

 IF you’re reading this, you’re probably in the same line as us.

The seafood line.

Christmas Eve will always mean prawns to Topics. And everybody else, we’re quickly learning. The co-ops are ready for us, with oceans worth of meat just waiting to sell.

Robert Gauta, the general manager at Wickham’s Commercial Fisherman’s Co-Op, said it was constant trade yesterday.

More than a tonne of prawns went in less than two hours.

‘‘Christmas Eve is a shorter day than [Monday], but we’re expecting the rush to make it a much bigger day,’’ he said.

‘‘There will be queues, but we ask that people be patient, the longest waiting time we had last year was about half an hour.’’

Mr Gauta reckons oysters, crabs and fish fillets are popular, but it’s all about the prawns. Swansea Co-Op manager Selena Cameron and her staff will start setting up about 4am and were expecting deliveries of Crystal Bay and Tiger prawns last night.

At Nelson Bay Fishermen’s Wharf Seafoods, owner Joanne Howarth reckons the 500 pre-order customers won’t be disappointed.

Strong supply would match the demand this year, she said.

‘‘The good thing is usually at Christmas time product is hard to come by, but this year we’ve got all fresh prawns and they are of beautiful quality. 

‘‘We had one customer who bought one of our jumbo tiger prawns and said it was like eating a steak, it was so big it took him three mouthfuls.’’

Hopefully everybody remembers they’re not called Fishermen’s grab-what-you-cans. 

It’s a co-operative for a reason.

We’re in this together, people.

We’ll just write it up

WE at Topics hate snakes.

That’s why we’re impressed by a bloke like Geoff De Looze, a snake catcher for Newcastle and Hunter Animal Control.

Chasing a brown snake across the sand at Stockton doesn’t sound like fun to us, but whatever Mr de Looze wants.

We’ll stick to writing a newspaper column.

But while he usually catches up with most snakes, one wily green tree snake hatched a cunning plan to elude him this week.

It was a classic road trip.

While he eventually caught up with the little reptile, Mr de Looze said it was after he notched up 200 kilometres in a car between Blacksmiths and the University of Newcastle before doubling back to Catherine Hill Bay. 

Mr de Looze helped the green tree snake find his way home in the end, and tells us the best plan is to park near long grass and leave your car open so he can escape.

Like we said, we’ll stick with newspapers.

Calling cheapskates

IT’S a matter of hours now until we all start unwrapping presents, but given the long, thirsty summer ahead there may be more gifts in the offing.

Summer is the time of the long, lazy beer. For us that also makes it the time of the long, unruly lawn.

Anyway, in the spirit of giving we’re hoping to share the Hunter’s best-kept secret: its cheapest schooner. 

It’s all going to be very scientific, even if it is the season for merry-making and frivolity. 

Think bowling clubs, country pubs and anywhere else that serves amber fluid.

At the risk of spoiling the fun, there’s rules. There’s always rules.

To be eligible, your beverage has to be full strength and full price.

Happy hours don’t count.

It can be from anywhere within the Hunter, but ideally within walking distance of our place. 

Email, call or Tweet through your best answers and we’ll start crunching the nuts. 

Wait, numbers.

We’ll crunch the numbers.