Well, it took a long time, and travelled around 2,500km around Australia, but I received my Secret Santa present. And it was well worth the wait.

Unfortunately, I needed to leave my home in Sydney to travel to South Australia to spend Christmas with my family, only to find that my Secret Santa present landed on my doorstep 4 hours after I flew out of the state. Collected by my friendly neighbour and delivered to my Sister-in-law, the gift was then driven half-way across the country by car to Adelaide, only to find that I'd missed it again by travelling to the South East to see my parents. The gift was then driven to Swan Reach, on the Murray River, where my parents-in-law have a small shack. Finally, I met up with my still-mysterious package next to the River on New Year’s Eve, and opened it with almost inconceivable anticipation.

My Secret Santa did some excellent stalking, and seems to have discovered my love and obsession for Doctor Who. I also believe they may have noted my fondness for coffee, and combined the two, giving the most excellent gift of a TARDIS mug. As you can see from one of the photos, I've been sipping my morning coffees next to the Mighty Murray River, enjoying both the serenity and all the coffee a mug bigger on the inside than the outside has to give.

I've seen a few of these given during Secret Santa 2011, and each time I've thought "if only that were me...” My Secret Santa arranged to send my gift directly through ebay, and didn't give me their name, so I'm not able to thank them directly.

Thank you, Mysterious Secret Santa, you've made an old geek very happy.