What It’s Like Spending Christmas in Australia.

This month I’ve decided to tell you all about Christmas in Australia for the December Travel Linkup. It’s so very different to Christmas in the UK, and I wanted to share some of my memories and photos with you all. I first had Christmas in Australia when I was seven years old, I thought it was wonderful sitting outside on Christmas morning while Uncle Gray cooked us all a big full English. We opened presents and spent the day in and out of the pool while Christmas songs played on the hi-fi system.

So, ready to find out what it’s like spending Christmas in Australia? Let’s go!

Most people have fake trees

When we moved to Australia it was very strange having our first Christmas there as ‘locals’. In England we always had a real tree, but oh no, you can’t get those in Perth, so off we went to Target to buy a fake one – along with boxes of decorations and tacky tinsel to make it feel more homey.
Our usual huge pile of Christmas presents was replaced by a small pile of carefully chosen and sent-over gifts by our closest family members. But I didn’t care about the presents that Christmas, I was just so blissfully happy to be living the dream in my favourite country.

 

Spending Christmas Eve on the Beach

On Christmas Eve we did the classic British expat ‘going to Cottesloe beach to try and get on GMTV’ (which naturally no longer happens as GMTV is no more). It was weird being surrounded by so many British accents again as most Brits live up north or down south, rather than in the west-coast suburbs where we lived.

 

 My brother was not impressed….
….My parents had a whale of a time, however…

Cooked breakfast and movies on Christmas morning

We had our full cooked breakfast in the morning outside in the garden, the sun blazing onto us already in the low 40’s. Then we opened presents while National Lampoons Christmas Vacation played on TV. Our main family present was a giant practice surfboard. Only in Aus eh. (warning: photos of my 16-year-old self below).

 

 

No roast dinner on Christmas Day

My Mum insisted on cooking a full roast dinner despite a house with no air-con and the outside air temperature reaching a stifling 46°C. Most Australians don’t have a roast dinner on Christmas day, they have it on Christmas Eve in the evening instead and then just have seafood and salad and ‘picky bits’ on Christmas day!

Go to the beach on Christmas Day

However, while our roast dinner was cooking we did the very Australian thing and went down to the beach for an hour, and swimming in the ocean on Christmas day was a little surreal to say the least.

Dip in the pool to cool off and watch Christmas movies

Eating our dinner was hard work, the last thing you want when it’s so hot is hot food! Then it was time for a dip in the pool to cool off for the evening before we settled down to watch Christmas films and phone our family in the UK who had just woken up.
My friend Beth and her family from the UK came to visit us over Christmas (although they stayed in a rental house and we had separate Christmas’, seeing each other on boxing day and NYE etc), and they loved having a Christmas in the sunshine!
My next ‘alternative’ Christmas in Australia was when I went back in 2010 to visit my then boyfriend. I’d moved back to England at the end of 2008, so we did long-distance from then until 2011. We saw each other 4 times a year for about 6 weeks at a time, and it was my turn to go back over there for Christmas.
It was my very first Christmas away from my family, but his family were like a second family to me and treated me like their own. They didn’t do as much ‘family’ stuff as mine, as Australian culture is quite focused on friends, so we spent most of the festive period with our friends, on the beaches and in the pool.

 

 

This was one of my favourite Christmas’s and I have some of my favourite memories from those few weeks. 2010 was a horribly tough year for us with some very sad losses of people close to us, so to have that perfect Christmas together after such a horrible year was wonderful and a lovely end to the year.
His family only had a tiny little Christmas tree, and so we went out and I bought them a ‘proper’ big 7ft tree and all the decorations to go with it. I made the house as festive as possible – and then the kitten decided it would be a really fun idea to jump straight onto the small tree on the sidetable, and then hilariously fell backwards still clutching the tree so it fell on top of her.
Chris’s mum was an awesome cook, so on Christmas eve we did the Aussie thing and had a full roast dinner, and then dessert was Christmas pudding with the biggest vat of custard I have ever seen!
On Christmas day we did presents and had seafood. We spent the afternoon on the beach, and then went to put some handpicked flowers from the garden on his grandparents’ grave.

 

Boxing day with friends

On Boxing Day our friends came over and we played Marco Polo in the pool with the new underwater camera, and just chilled out.

 

 

 

 

 

NYE in Australia 2010

That NYE was even more perfect, Anna came over and we chilled in the pool, then the guys came over in the evening and we all played poker and blackjack, had some drinks and food, and then wandered up to the lookout to watch the fireworks set off over the city below us. It was magical. So simple, yet so perfect.
I’ll never forget the feeling of sitting on top of that hill with my favourite people, gazing across the winding swan river towards the City, fireworks overhead. I miss my Aussie days, but I’m so so lucky to have had such amazing times to miss so much, and I have so many more memories to make when I go back for my yearly trip in March 2015!

The one bad thing about Christmas in Australia though? They have shit mince pies.

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Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux

Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of SEO at Havas Media Group by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.

Find me on: Web | Instagram

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21 Comments

  1. Unknown
    December 3, 2014 / 10:09 pm

    Such wonderful memories – it is definitely a struggle to eat a roast dinner in the sunshine, isn't it!

    • Catherine Lux
      December 3, 2014 / 11:25 pm

      It really is! Whenever it's hot I just want to eat salads – the total opposite of what I eat when it's cold!

      C x

  2. my freedoms life
    December 3, 2014 / 10:11 pm

    This looks like summer holidays ! 🙂 amazing and different Christmas ! Thanks for sharing !

  3. gotmeghan
    December 3, 2014 / 11:19 pm

    I've always wondered what it would be like to have Christmas in a place were it's always sunny and high temperatures. I don't honestly I'd take to it very well. Being without snow seems so sad. We don't always get a winter Christmas every year, but you always hope for one and I can't live without one you know? Thanks for sharing the memories and pictures! 🙂

    • Catherine Lux
      December 3, 2014 / 11:25 pm

      It was weird, but it was a nice change 🙂 I love snow for the first day or two, then I get fed up with it and just want summer back haha!

      C x

  4. Angie SilverSpoon
    December 3, 2014 / 11:20 pm

    I loved this post!! It's so lovely to hear childhood memories from other bloggers! I had Christmas in Australia once but it rained and Mr S and I were stuck in our hotel!
    Lots of love,
    Angie

    SilverSpoon London

    • Catherine Lux
      December 3, 2014 / 11:26 pm

      Aw thank you, so glad you enjoyed it! I know, I love hearing about childhood memories from bloggers! Although to be honest even though these memories are only 4-7 years old, they still seem like yesterday!!

      C x

  5. Maria
    December 4, 2014 / 1:00 am

    Christmas in Australia sounds amazing! I can't imagine it being that sunny on Christmas day, or going on the beach! x
    Maria's Adventures

    • Catherine Lux
      December 4, 2014 / 2:21 pm

      It was weird, but I love it!!

      C x

    • Catherine Lux
      December 4, 2014 / 2:29 pm

      Haha, Christmas in Winter consist of staying indoors all day every day eating and drinking.

      C x

  6. Mairi
    December 4, 2014 / 9:32 am

    Wow this was such a great post! It's amazing to see the differences. My auntie used to live in Australia and talked about having barbecues with friends on the beach on Christmas but I can't imagine doing it myself! Would love to spend a holiday there though 🙂 x

    copperpink.com

    • Catherine Lux
      December 4, 2014 / 2:32 pm

      Thanks! Haha, I've never had a BBQ on the beach on Christmas day itself, but they're super fun!

      C x

  7. Sarah @Daydreams of Summertime
    December 4, 2014 / 10:39 am

    Love this post! I lived in Sydney for about a year and a half and spent two christmas's there and I loved it. Next week we are flying back out there for three weeks which I am so exicted about! x

    • Catherine Lux
      December 4, 2014 / 2:32 pm

      Ahh, that's the great thing about living somewhere else then moving on again – visits! I go back to Perth once a year for a holiday and cherish it so much!

      C x

  8. Unknown
    December 4, 2014 / 1:28 pm

    No! What about the mince pies from Bakers Delight!? I think they are delish!

    • Catherine Lux
      December 4, 2014 / 2:33 pm

      I *love* Baker's Delight, but I hate their mince pies :/ they're just….weird… haha

      C x

  9. Areeba
    December 4, 2014 / 2:17 pm

    This is so different, isn't it? On beach in December is just a dream here because it's always so cold in December here 😉

    • Catherine Lux
      December 4, 2014 / 2:33 pm

      I know, my Dad's birthday is in December and he loved having his birthdays in the warmth!

      C x

  10. Unknown
    December 4, 2014 / 3:26 pm

    Great post! Thanks for sharing, it is very interesting reading about spending a "different" Christmas!

  11. passport and toothbrush
    December 4, 2014 / 3:28 pm

    I celebrated Xmas in Indonesia a few times when growing up. It felt weird then, but now that I think back I have some fond memories of it.

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