Christmas in Australia

When we are bombarded with the traditional images of Christmas involving snow, winter clothes and Frosty the Snowman year after year, those of us in Australia do feel a little confused.
Right now as I type this the weather outside is beautiful. The sky is blues, there are a few clouds in the sky and the temperature is predicted to reach 31° celcius today (that’s 88°F). Christmas Day is predicted to reach 32°C with the possibility of an afternoon shower.
When we go to shopping centres to do our Christmas shopping we spend an inordinate amount of time driving around and around in an attempt to find undercover parking. This is important as here in Queensland it is not just the heat you are trying to protect the car from, but the possibility of an afternoon thunderstorm complete with hail.
Driving around looking at Christmas lights is different. Not everyone decorates their homes with lights but some do. We enjoy doing it as it means we get to sit in an airconditioned car for an hour or so, grab some takeaway from a drive through and spend time as a family.
Christmas in this part of the world is uniquely different.
Some of us still enjoy the traditional Christmas meal of roast meat and vegetables but generally we eat a lot of salads, seafood and cold roast meats. Dessert may include plum pudding and custard but many of us still enjoy a  pavlova along with other snacks such as rum balls, apricot balls or white Christmas.
We spend our day by the pool (if we have one), outside in our outdoor entertainment area or in the air conditioning. It is the middle of summer after all.
Many flock to the beaches.
Personally, I don’t understand the allure of the beach in summer particularly on a very hot day. You burn your feet on the sand getting to a spot to place your towel. You have to lather on sunscreen and then try to position something (such as an umbrella) to give you a little shade. The sand sticks to your sunscreen. The salt in the water dries out your skin and the glare off the water gives you a headache. Or that may just be me. 😉
However, many people love the beach on Christmas Day!

My day is a little more traditional in that we don’t go to the beach. We have in the past swum in one of the rivers near to the Garden Gnome’s parent’s home though; finding shade under a bridge.
This year, my day will begin quite early when the Teen, the GG and I will meet around the tree about 6am where will pass out our family presents. My parents are due to arrive before 7am and we will then do their presents.
At 7.30am the Son and my DIL arrive and I will head into the kitchen to prepare breakfast of croissants with ham (off the bone) and cheese served up with a side of hash browns, fried eggs, tomato and onion. Beverage of choice is usually a glass of champagne (or apple cider). All done whilst wearing my Christmas apron!
The First Born and her family are due to arrive around 10.30am where we will gather around the tree once more and hand out more gifts before the rest of my family members arrive about an hour later.
Lunch will be eaten outside in the entertainment area and by the pool (that is now clear).
This year we have an array of cold meats and salads with desserts such as mini pavlovas, Christmas cake, ice cream and cheesecake adorning the table.
I predict that the children will eat very little meat and salad but gorge on ice creams and lollies (candy) before jumping into the pool.

So you see, the day will certainly be different to those of many of you on the other side of the world.

Glynis asked me about some Australian Christmas songs so I will share some with you. The first song was originally sung by Rolf Harris and is one that I grew up with. However, as Rolf is now in jail I didn’t really want to share his version. Here is one by someone else that in my opinion is almost as good as the original.

This next song by Bucko and Champs is a little outrageous but has a lot of good pictures in it (apart from the stuffed kangaroo and dog 😮 ).
I really like this song as we own an old Holden similar to this one (not a ute though).

The last song is one I’ve never heard before but listened to this morning and quite like. It has many Aussie sayings in it (like ‘now we’re cooking with gas’ and ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie). It’s a bit of fun.

Well, we are off to pick up some paper plates, cutlery and cups this morning to combat too much washing up on Christmas Day. 🙂
We’re also planning on dropping in to see friends before coming home to finish the baking and getting stuff ready for Christmas Day.
(I also need to finish reading the final Outlander book by Diana Gabaldon).
Have a great day all. 🙂