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Claude Claus From Antarctica
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Dennyk
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SYNOPSIS
Claude Claus is the younger brother of Santa Claus and he lives at the South Pole in Antarctica.
He is an overweight, whiskered old man who looks just like his brother, Santa.
This is a story about Claude Claus, living at the South Pole, and his visit to Australia during the Christmas season.
South Pole Facts:
The first explorer to reach the South Pole was a Norwegian, Roald Amundsen, and he arrived five weeks ahead of the Englishman, Robert Falcon Scott, on December 4, 1911.
Amundsen began from a much closer base point to the South Pole than Scott on their race there.
Scott died on the return trip after reaching the South Pole with his team.
The story begins with the separation of the Claus brothers when their parents took young Santa to the North Pole. He applied and was hired to make toys in Kris Kringle's workshop.
A century passed and he eventually replaced Kris, who retired to Alaska.
Santa became well-known as Santa Claus in some countries.
In 1910, Claude joined Roald Amundsen's team on their trip to the South Pole.
The exploration team successfully located the South Pole and built a research station there.
Claude fell in love with Antarctica and decided to remain there after Amundsen left.
100 years later, Claude was invited by the mayors of two major cities in Australia to make an appearance at their annual Christmas Festival.
In Australia, summertime in December is for the annual festival which is called 'Carols by Candlelight.'
The mayors of Sydney and Melbourne invited Claude Claus to attend their galas on Christmas Eve.
Claude accepted the invitations and prepared his sleigh with his giant team of caribou to fly him to Sydney and then to Melbourne.
He loaded his sleigh with three large sacks of toys for the children.
The lead caribou was Fetterolf. He was an amazing guide who kept them on course to their first stop in Tasmania.
Claude climbed into his sleigh and with his hands on the reins, shouted out, "Now Lancer, now Brasher, on Bonner and Dixon," and they were in flight.
Their guide, Fetterolf, was flying in front of Lancer, heading in the direction of Australia.
They flew at a low altitude to prevent any contact with passenger planes as there were additional flights leaving the South Pole to Australia during the Christmas season.
After the gruelling high speed 20-hour and 4000-mile trip, Claude landed in the Thamnic Rainforest in Tasmania, hungry and tired.
Fetterolf's nose had turned a bright red due to the hot summer temperature.
The caribou rested and found food, mushrooms and berries to eat.
They then went ahead to take a long nap under the shade of the tall trees.
On December 24, Claude and his team of caribou flew on his sleigh to Sydney where he participated in the 'Carols by Candlelight' celebration.
They parked on the roof of the Domain building and Claude slid down the chimney and appeared on stage with the singers and dancers.
He received a fabulous reception for his rendition of "Jingle Bells" in Australian lyrics with a down-under accent.
"Oh! Jingle Bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day,
Hey! Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is a beaut!
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute."
Then Claude magically disappeared and flew his sleigh into the city and delivered the toys to the homes of the good children of Sydney.
Next, Claude flew over 500 miles southwest to Melbourne and touched down at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
He repeated his performance from Sydney and received a prodigious welcome from the large audience.
Following the performance, he magically disappeared once again to his sleigh.
Claude then delivered the toys to the homes of the good children of Melbourne.
After that, they flew to Tasmania where he delivered his third sack of toys to the good Tasmanian children's homes.
Afterward, Claude made the long flight back to Antarctica, they stopped at the British Rothera Research Station for food and relaxation.
Claude was given a warm welcome and he stayed at the New Bransfield House where he entertained the scientists with a Christmas song popular in Great Britain, 'The Twelve Days Of Christmas.'
They stayed for a few days to recover from the exhausting trip.
Fetterolf did not enjoy the warm weather in Australia and was happy to be back home frolicking with his many friends in the South Pole.
When he returned home, his nose cooled and it switched from red back to its natural white colour.
Claude wrote to his brother in the North Pole to share his experiences in Australia with him and invite him to visit on New Year's Eve.
Santa didn't get the letter, which was sent in December, until February, so he couldn't honour Claude's invitation until the following year.
The End
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