Another thing to mention as it is summer here in Australia at Christmas is that it is bushfire season. There have been times when the RFS (Rural Fire Service) is flat-out containing fires. The community volunteer firefighters are there with them even on Christmas Day. It's also cyclone season. The most tragic event happened on Christmas Day in 1974 when Darwin was flattened by Cyclone Tracy. And also not to forget the lifesavers who patrol the beaches. Australians are always grateful for the emergency services and volunteers who give up their time to be there for others.
Huge shout out to all the firey's the volunteer firefighters, SES, The flying doctors service and ambulance services for all they do, and have done through the years to rescue us and our homes. We love you guys and appreciate all you do for us - you're all legends. Standing ovation for all of you 👏👏👏👏
Shout out to our firefighters and volunteers along with our other emergency crews ❤️ I actually live not far from some big fires that happened not long ago. To see the sky go from blue to Smokey and orange was rather horrifying
@@tracyparker129 yes still very much in 2022. All the services helping during the major floods, emergency people going to be working on Christmas for covid and stuff in hospitals. Lifesavers at our beaches
As an Aussie I’m surprised she didn’t know where the reindeer being swapped for kangaroos might have come from. There’s a Christmas song called six white boomers where Santa’s sleigh is pulled by six large white Roos
Suspect she isn't old enough to know it, since the singer has got himself in legal trouble, his name is hardly spoken anymore. I'm not commenting in any way on what he did just pointing out to others why he is possible not known by her.
It was still sung at the last carols I went to, about 10 years ago, all my nieces and nephews (16-4) know that song even though I've never heard them listen to it. There are also tones of books about Ozzie Christmas that feature roos instead of reindeer. I've even seen ones where the sleigh is a ute (reference to Ozzi jingle bells maybe?).
I'm atheist but the love I have for Christmas is INTENSE It's just such a wholesome lovely time of year and I will celebrate it every year till I die ❤🥺 Especially because I only got to have my first christmas in 2017 with my now Husband's family as my family never did it growing up.
Another aussie thing to add is that we normally have our firefighters come out with a firetruck going around with a santa. Normally giving out lollies to people who they drive past. Not sure how common it is across Australia but in my hometown it’s a annual event.
I'm Australian and never went to a Christmas festival because they aren't really my style but my Granddad used to dress up as Santa and in his red hot car drive around the streets giving everyone a small gift or lollies (candy) and he did this for 22 years since I was born, this will be the first Christmas where he can't do that because he passed away this year but my dad is going to carry the mantle now which is exciting !
Christmas! ❤😁 Growing up down here, Christmas means summer to me. BBQ 🍖 and beers 🍺 , swimming at the beach 🏝️ , kayaking 🛶, surfing. 🏄♂️ The idea of a cold Christmas is so weird to me. But I still put fake snow on my tree 😂 I’ve never thought about how weird that is until now.
Christmas day = family Boxing day = Friends, beers, cricket. Preferably all outside either in the backyard or the local park/beach. Santa Claus = ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-biBW1t9qBDg.html Warning, explicit lyrics.
I often think that Australian kids would work out that the climate is the opposite much earlier than any other kid around the world because all of the shops putting snow on the windows and us putting snow decorations up around the house
Plastic trees are the norm here in Australia. No shame here, and you just reuse the same tree every year. The "spiders aren't that common" applies to the city and human areas. Obviously if you're going up into the hills to cut down a tree that's outside, it'll have all the normal things that live in or near trees.
No way, where I live in Australia, there's SO many spiders. It's not even summer yet but we've had to kill at least 5 spiders in our house within the past week!
@@cosbit_I just ignore them.i have no problem with huntsmans. I got bitten by what I think was a wolf spider last year. It hurt for a while but settled down pretty quickly. It wasn't it's fault. I picked it up in a rag.
My experience of Christmas in South Africa was very similar to the one described in this video. It's basically a British Christmas adapted for summer conditions. We do the Christmas crackers with lunch which is usually a braai (barbeque), paper crowns etc etc same as in the UK. Most people will spend the day at a family members house relaxing around the swimming pool or at the beach. There will usually be an important cricket match on TV starting on boxing day. Boxing day is the same in South Africa as well.
Interesting, I've always wondered what it's like in South Africa & if it's similar to here in Oz, thanks for sharing :) With the food, do you do cold ham, cold turkey, seafood & stone fruits? Those things are popular in Australia. Also, do you have "carols by Candlelight"?
I spent my early childhood in Australia. Typical Christmas presents would be new summer clothes, beachwear and beach toys while Christmas lunch would be a bbq with friends round and the rest of the day would mostly be spent at the beach playing with our new toys. I still remember those Australian Christmases which, as a child, I'd associate with the smell of burnt grass, parched earth, summer school holidays and staying up late every one of those warm nights. Fond memories.
2 things she didn't mention, companies usually shut down for 2 weeks over Xmas and new years as a compulsory holiday summer shutdown, and Australia is an early time zone, Australian's are sitting around having Xmas lunch while people in on the west coast of the us are finishing their work day.
I work at SALVOS (paid not volunteer) and we only close on public holidays. So no Christmas period for us. The best we get is going home at 3 on Christmas Eve instead of 5.
Chirstmas in New Zealand is much the same as Australia, but with the added bonus of the Pohutukawa. It's a tree that grows on the beach and blooms bright red this time of year, it's a sight to behold. It's often called the New Zealand Christmas Tree.
We had a NZ Xmas tree on our farm, it took many years before it even produced blooms but they were truly beautiful!! The vibrant green against the bright red is truly amazing! Mum found it at a garden nursery one day and just decided to buy one as the picture looked nice on the label. We also have a native Aussie Xmas tree, well we do in Western Australia, but they are few and far between now. Unfortunately they are loved by white ants and being destroyed by housing developments when bushland is cleared. They also need bushfires to germinate their seeds. They have green leaves but the whole tree pretty much fills with the most amazing bright orange blossoms!! They only come out in blossom at Christmas time and mostly found in natural bushland. We also have these little star like spiders, which we call Christmas spiders as they only come out for a month or two around Christmas. They are quite cute and they too are in smaller numbers compared to when I was a kid.
Whilst the northern half of Australia had heat-wave conditions earlier this week, the southern half experienced its coldest December for decades with overnight lows below freezing. Parts of the south east (mostly in the high country) have seen snow every day this week, despite being less than one week away from the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere.
Yep! I'm in the Hunter Region. I have been wearing a jumper and trackies for this whole week and on and off through spring and summer so far. Christmas for us will only be top of 25°C. I'm a massive fan of cold weather, so I'm loving this. But, next year will be El Nino weather again.
@@psychokitty9325 I am originally from Western Australia and as strange as it sounds I do miss the hot Christmasses we used to have. Christmas in NSW isn't near as hot as WA and it just doesn't feel the same, especially in a cool climate like Canberra where I've been living for the last 14 years 😥
@@psychokitty9325 not YET! But 👍hopefully👍 we will! I hate the cold! Best Christmas ever was in Karratha! It was like 46C in the shade under the patio with the fan screaming it's butt off! The water in the pool was like swimming in warm soup! Best Chrissy EVER!
Christmas fruits for many Aussies are cherries and mangoes. Cold cuts of ham and turkey are also popular. And a Christmas booze apart from beer is Sparkling Shiraz (sirah for the Americans) - a red-wine champagne, so full of histamines you get a hangover before you get drunk.
7:53 she forgot to mention that we cut soft drink bottles (soda bottles or pop bottles for those overseas) so can wedge in a long candle into the bottle so we don’t get wax on ourselves when it melts. No fancy candle holders, just a 1.25 litre coke bottle cut in half and a long candle bottom wedged into the spout of the bottle on the inside. We can then hold the candle without wax dripping onto us. We can hold the candle and not have to relight the candle if there is a wind as it is incased in a cut open coke bottle. Since all spouts of coke bottles are the same regardless of the size, depending on your type of candle, it may require different sized bottles. Like if you had incredibly long candles. Tea light candles are a hassle, but the long candles work best. No burns, wind resistant, can be held and waved around (responsibly) is the golden way to go! Also I remember for years had a cousin who had a pine tree farm, and we used to get a fresh tree every year. My job as a young child was to sweep up the dead pine leaves and then water the tree slightly, as we put it in a bucket to make it last for a few weeks. The smell was amazing and my best Christmas memories were of that. No spiders from what I recall. At the carols by candle light, because I WAS Lutheran growing up, we had the nativity story played out for us with a real donkey. Even as a family, the decorations under the tree woke have a porcelain nativity set, of Jesus being born. I don’t bother with that anymore as I lost my faith many, many years ago, when 2 family members out of 5 passed away with weeks of each other before Christmas, and one sibling got married and was obligated to do Christmas with her in-laws. So it was just my mother and I alone, with a little tree that had fibre optic lights. Christmas was never the same after that. No pine trees. No family. It was very dim and just became another day.
As an Aussie I simply can’t grasp having a cold Xmas. Xmas for us is about gifts, alcohol, lots of food and family and friends. Our Xmas lunch consists of a hot roast dinner even tho it’s hot
As a European i can't grasp having a hot xmas. As much as i enjoyed the experience It's just too weird to me, having spent one Christmas in oz while on my working holiday visa
As an American I can wrap my head around a hot Christmas. I have family in Florida and friends from Hawaii and Southern California so that’s conceivable. What weirds me out is the thought of an Australian Halloween with children trick or treating while tulips and daffodils are blooming!
I lived in Sydney growing up and my mum would always have a ‘baked dinner’ on Christmas Day. I remember so well her and I slaving away in a small kitchen getting ready for lunch. It was always the hottest day of the year. So we had a couple of baked chickens, (no one in our family liked turkey), a leg of ham and a leg of pork. Then freshly shelled peas and beans, Brussel sprouts, potatoes, pumpkin, parsnips and baked onion. Gravy and mint sauce. We always had, something she never mentioned was homemade plum pudding with money in it and homemade brandy sauce, custard, cream and ice cream ! I can tell you honestly, we were so buggered by the end of lunch, the only thing called for after lunch was a sleep, anywhere you could find to sleep ! This was really Christmas to me and as an adult I moved to Brisbane and continued to do all the things mum had done when she was alive. She passed away when I was 21. Now, my children are grown with partners and I ‘lost’ Christmas lunch along the way. I have had a lot of sadness in my life, but not having ‘my’ Christmas any longer is right up there with the saddest. God bless everyone and have a wonderful Christmas. 💕💕💕🐾🐾🐾🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🎅🏻🎁🛍️xoxox
Here in New Zealand Christmas it is exactly like Australia except it can be slightly hotter in summer in Australia . As Australia is as we call it “just across the ditch “ (close to NZ on the map ) our traditions are pretty much the same. Love watching your videos, Hope you get to travel to Aussie (Australia) one day. Their beaches are amazing .
@@taniyascott5369 not in Wellington where I have lived most of my life, but you are right. Auckland and further north the beaches are beautiful. Haven’t seen the South Island so can’t comment. What I loved about the Australian beaches was the fact that they are virtually trash free. 😀
@@jeanetteyuile2851 I was born in Cambridge MANY decades ago. We moved to WA in 1978. I've visited NZ a few times since coming here & every time visiting lovely beaches, mosty in the North. Mt Maungauni & Coranandel & many others. I remember going to 1 beach, I don't remember what it was called, I was only about 13 at the time, but the sand was soft & black & when you dug into the sand to make a kinda pool, it was SOOOO hot, you had to get water from the ocean to add to it just so you could sit in a warm/hot "bath" on the beach. That was REALLY cool! Especially when rain is falling down around you 😁
We have spiders in our house all the time. When someone who's funny about spiders says, "There's a spider in the bathrooom - can you kill it?" the usual response is, "Nah, just leave it alone." It's like Mum was freaked out recently by this giant wasp/hornet that was buzzing around us while watching a movie. She'd keep saying, "There's a wasp there," as if someone ought to do something about it, and everyone just goes, "Yeah, okay," ignoring it. We sometimes get snakes and giant goannas and toads in the house, so keeping the screen doors closed is a good idea. Less snakes in recent years because we have more kookaburras.
As an Australian, I've never really thought how our Christmas must really look to people from other countries. I always think about how theirs would but, but not how they see our Christmas.
Fun fact! This year (for some reason) it has actually snowed in Tasmania and Canberra in December which is obviously very odd, because it’s meant to be summer. Very pretty though
That big tent looking thing she showed for Carols by Candlelight is Sidney Myer Music Bowl, it's actually metal and a permanent structure, I do the P.A for those XD funny story, one time I nearly accidentally headbutted the singer of Gang of Youths on that stage, right before they were about to start their set 😂 came like 2 inches from slamming my forehead into his nose when we walked around a corner in opposite directions at the same time. We also do Christmas in July, which I doubt you guys would do, so we can have a Christmas in winter too 😂 Also yeah, you gotta but your prawns at least a week before Christmas.
Hi Here in Perth Western Australia, The maximum temperature on Christmas Day last year, 2020, was 42.8 degrees Celsius. In 2020 the maximum temperature on Christmas Day was 40.4 degrees Celsius. Too hot to go to the beach. Over summer, it's bushfire and cyclone season. In 1974 Darwin was flattened by Cyclone Tracy. So, emergency workers don't get much of a break at Christmas generally. Just a tip for when you do visit Australia. Don't park your car under trees for shade, or you may end up with spider/s in your car. Park under a carport, or you can buy car shades to cover your car. BTW Western Australia is a beautiful place to visit. We have beautiful beaches along the coast. In the South-West we have great surfing beaches, especially around Margaret River area. That area and all around the South-West is known of its wineries. Other produce as well of course. The forests are magnificent, especially the Karri, Marri and Tingle Tree Forests. They're huge! You can't come to WA without visiting the Dryandra Woodlands to see local fauna, and of course Rottnest Island to see quokkas, and the amazing beaches there. The rugged coastline of the South is beautiful! Must go to Albany for The Gap and so much more. Perth itself is amazing with its huge Swan River and its tributories snaking through and around the city, suburbs and outer metro areas. Kings Park is huge area, spectacular, overlooking the city. A forest and gardens in the city. There's so much more. I hope you do come here one day. You won't be disappointed.
Growing up in country towns, I had 24 first cousins and we would all have Christmas on the farm. There would be a big BBQ, pony rides, a jumping castle, games.. and then in the afternoon we would all go to the beach to swim and play cricket! Everyone would end up sunburned and cranky.
A few years back, mum had to work so she told my brother, my mate and I to put the plastic tree up and decorate it... It was buried in the back of the shed so we gave up and just decorated her exercise bike!🤣🇭🇲
In Australia we literally have a Christmas carol called "Six White Boomers" which is about Santa switching his reindeer for kangaroos. great children's song u should check it out on RU-vid.
On the 1st or 2nd day of December we have a Christmas pageant where many roads in the city are closed and beautiful floats decorated in many different themes will go down these streets (eg. gingerbread, snowflakes, toys, snowmen). There is also child dancers and child marching band groups that also participate in the pageant. It is extremely popular with many parents sleeping on the side of the road to secure front row seats for their child.
Hi from Australia, l have never had to spray for spiders in the tree. It can get up to 40 to 45 degrees, we had Santa in the mornings and huge family (up 100) ate and played all day. The house changed ever year and everyone brought food. As our family died out so did the large family Chritmas. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Oh my gosh spiders are SO common in Victoria Australia 🇦🇺 not sure who is saying they are not! My friends and I took our boards to the lake on the weekend and had mini spiders being blown in off the water 🤣
An ex employer of mine…a devout Jewish person and diamond dealer obviously does not observe Christmas but he still finds a way to spread the joy at this time of year. This is only because he loves his adopted country and he loves belonging here.
I guess I should mention the two most common spiders (visible) for Australians are the "Daddy Long Legs" and "Huntsman" - both are harmless house spiders, the two you kind of worry about are the Funnel Web and Red Back - which are respectively a trapdoor tarantula and black widow type, also highly venomous. Also the white tail can be bad with a necrotising bacteria in it's venom.
Whitetail venom is a neurotoxin, the cause of bacterial infection is from bacteria on the fangs and inflammation/ulceration "flesh eating" is due to that not the venom. Any spider bite can cause it, in North America they do have the brown recluse/fiddleback which I believe has an enzyme in its venom that does something similar. Merry Christmas.
as someone from far north Queensland it is very common for kids to be told that santa swaps out his reindeer for kangaroos up here as its way too hot and dry for his reindeer to cope. there is even a song about it called 6 white Boomers.
@@peaceful3250 I’m aware but the lady in the video stated she was from SA and that it wasn’t common for her, I might not have been clear enough but I was simply stating that it is common in QLD where I’m from and speculating if it because of how humid and hot it is up here around Christmas.
@@nabstablook22 That's the point, there's probably three or four different species within a metre of you wherever you are. Also I forget the actual figure, but on average twenty four spiders will crawl over your face while you sleep in your bed. But if you don't go looking for them you would never know they are there. And just remember, a spider doesn't bite the wall, ground or your lounge when it crawls over it, so why would it bite you if it crawls over you. You have to poke a spider to make it bite you.
In Tasmania, where I live, you never know what the weather will be like. Sometimes we will have snow, particularly in the highlands, or it can be very hot. We don't have consistent summer until Jan and Feb.
Oh lovely cool Tasmania. It's so hot here in Perth at Christmas. One year was driving to the country It was 43c and the car broke down And I had a husky dog with me.
I live in a country town, and on Christmas Day, everything is closed except the brothel. You can’t buy a Thai salad, but you can rent a young woman from Thailand.
Sydney to Hobart yacht race starts in Sydney 26 December and finishes in Hobart about 4-5 days later depending on how fast the boats are and the weather.
Yes it's actually a beautiful sight to see watching Sydney Harbour alight with boats & people celebrating around the foreshores enjoying the holiday period! Not sure why she seemed to poo poo the idea but maybe she's never experienced it from S.A. but it's really something great to see! Then we would head down the Coast many years to Gerroa and watch the many small boats go by from The Fishos club (with binoculars).
Hot. Very hot. Last year in Perth, Christmas Day was about 40C. I don't know if it's just my imagination, but Perth tends to get extraordinarily hot on Christmas Day. The last time it actually rained on Christmas Day was in 1991. Personally, I can't stand the heat. Give me a white Christmas any day of the week. There's just something different, something special about a white Christmas that Aussies don't get to have. As for spiders - anywhere there are trees, shrubs, hedges etc, you'll find spiders. Spiders inside homes, however, are comparatively rare, but they do occur, especially if you have lots of plants in your garden. And I get pest control done annually, where someone comes to spray down the house with some insect killer, which seems to help with minimising the number of bugs that manage to get into the house.
It is not just your imagination (trust me) I live in Perth and I know how HOT it got in 2022s Christmas Holy cow I had to stay inside with the ac blasting 😢
Just watched this after having a spider come down onto my shoulder in the shower and hearing you saying that lots of people say they're not common, they're definitely common, especially this time of the year.
YES!! I don't know how some people say they're not common or don't seem to see them! Last Xmas even alone It was about 12:30am I was about to start putting the presents out and go to bed when the hugest Huntsman I had even seen was on the wall. So I dealt with that, steadied my heart a little, then went to start putting the presents out in sacks and voila 2nd Huntsman on another wall!!! It ran down the wall when I sprayed it and under the Xmas tree onto the presents from family! By the time I managed to deal with the spiders and get presents I got to sleep around 2:30 & my youngest woke around 3oclock and tossed and turned & finally got up at 5am. So sick of Huntsman's honestly!! Gets my heart and adrenaline pumping more than I would like!
Couple of days ago, I had a 20 cent coin sized huntsman run up the shower wall whilst I had shampoo on my head! Both the spider and I were freaking out trying to get away from each other 😂😰. My son, had the BIGGEST huntsman I've ever seen in my 35 years of life. It had the biggest body, most likely a female. My son, kept spraying it, it just wouldn't die! I've had plenty of baby huntsmans hatch and spread all in my room. My mum has a yard full of overgrown trees and plants. I look forward to moving to a different state next year, never living in her house ever again! I know huntsmans are meant to be "friendly." But, I just can't 😩.
@@belleellis8833yes the 1yr I had a real Xmas tree we had to put a bomb under it as it was full of huntsman spiders 😱😱. Needless to say Boxing Day I went and bought a new fake Xmas tree!!
I've had my plastic Christmas tree up for a decade. Comes a week before xmas, I flick one switch, the lights go on, I dust my hands. Job done. If any new visitors ask why I have an xmas tree all year, I just say, "It's Christmas all year in this house, baby!" They don't ask again.
Oh! Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells Jingle all the way Christmas in Australia On a scorching summer's day, hey Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells Christmas time is beaut Oh, what fun it is to ride In a rusty Holden Ute
My dads side is German and a little on my mums side too. I used to always open presents from my grandparents, aunties and uncles etc. on Christmas Eve, and then on Christmas morning presents from parents. I thought this was something everyone did, but I learnt it was the German tradition.
Yeah mate what she is saying about being hot is right. At this moment I am sitting on my verandah in Townsville. It is 31 degrees celsius humidity through the roof and it is 8.30pm. Sweating with the fan on. Merry christmas to you.
A lot of people put so much effort into their Christmas lights but it doesn't get dark enough here until about 9:30pm and by then it's a bit late to take young kids out to see them.
On the Gold Coast it generally storms every Christmas day. It's hot, humid, black sky rolls through, buckets down, then back to being hot again. We usually have the air con pumping so we don't melt. No ugly christmas sweaters here, but we have the Santa/ christmas themed Hawaiian style shirts. 👌🏻✨️
Christmas is very much a quiet time for me. This year - my first Christmas without my dad in 64 years - I'll be spending it with my good neighbours. They are my second family. Italian, grand and such good cooks! Years ago - many years ago now - I was Santa in one of our major department stores. I kid you not, after going to Santa Training School, I graduated and along with all the other Santas decked out in our Santa suits, we were presented with our Santa Certificates at a graduation ceremony. It's true! The following year, I became what was known as a recycled Santa! Hardest job ever, I have to say 🎅🎅🎅
I saw an interview with Margot Robbie on Jimmy Kimmel’s show and she talked about Australian Christmas. It sounds awesome with the beaches and prawns. I’ll leave the beer to Joel.
During Christmas my region/town (whatever you call it) will have a Santa Claus on the back of this big truck throwing lollies (candy) out to kids and their families on the streets. One of my favourite memories as a child was waiting on my front lawn for Santa to come down my street and throw me lollies :) Not sure if other places do it too
Schools don’t finish the year one week before Christmas, never have. At the latest, about 2-3 weeks before. School year is calendar, end of January - beginning of December. Oh now I understand, she’s a South Australian that explains it 😂. The British invaded Australia, remember terra nullius (empty land). Traditionally, Christmas food is roast meat (lamb/pork), ham, turkey, and vegetables, Christmas pudding and pavlova. Seafood is often eaten on Boxing Day with leftover cold meats. Trifle is very English and not done so much anymore, but Aeroplane Jelly - Frog in a pond (it’s not jam either).
New South Wales PUBLIC schools do not go on holidays until 21st December thereabouts, at least the ones I taught in didn’t … although private and catholic schools go on holidays a bit earlier ..
I was lucky enough to live in The UK for 11 years and the Xmas’s I had there were way more festive than Australian ones. Something beautiful about being warm and toasty inside, fireplace blaring and feeling very Xmasy 💕. Being hot and eating prawns, salads etc is just not the same..
My Santa always had a beer left out for him with arnotts Tim Tam's or Mint Biscuits. He was tired to and deserved the best. Our Christmas catch ups rock. We have an unwritten rule about catching up with everyone you know at Christmas.
Living in NSW Australia and the weather forcast is 32 degree’s celsius with rain and thunderstorms… to break this down we will have a heat wave all day then it’ll rain hard all night… might be sunny in the morning but i doubt it lol… also Spiders mostly live in your house.. i love them and often find them and urge them back outside before the wife sees it and kills it 😆 i try save them
Where about are you in NSW that it 32 because where I am NSW it’s been mid teens be lucky it we get to 20 on the weekend and we have no rain in sight for the 5 days or more 🙁
A warm or hot Christmas Day is perfectly normal in Australia. We don't think anything of it. Growing up, we always had a hot lunch with roast turkey, roast potatoes, gravy etc, just like you do overseas. We mostly had a plastic tree - more practical than a real one - but when we did have a real one, I don't remember any spiders, just a few mosquitoes. As Candice pointed out, we have ppl from a lot of cultures in Australia, so Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews don't usually celebrate Christmas. And TBH, most of us who celebrate Christmas aren't that religious anyway!
A lot of people go the plastic tree route in Australia because of the heat. It's quite difficult in some parts to keep a fresh pine tree 🌲 looking green & healthy. I use to live in a hot area & we used wet beach sand for the tree, but even then you had pine needles all over the floor from about day 3 & you could never have a tree up for more than 6 days in total.
People where I live would stick a bunch of origami snowflakes all over things and shops would do the fake snow on their windows and displays but fake snow wasn't too common in people's homes; might be mainly a marketing/'people from the northern hemisphere feeling nostalgic' thing maybe? I could also see some fake snow being packaged with plastic christmas trees.
Christmas day in Australia is usually stinking hot, then come the afternoon, we have big summer storms, or it's stinking hot, and it's raining, which makes it even hotter. In our family, everyone comes from far and wide to eat a hot lunch. Our homes are open to all. We have friends of all religions that come and enjoy our Australian lifestyle and Christmas day with us. My grandmother started 2 traditions where everyone received a present 🎁 no matter who you are. So we all chip in with extra gifts marked male or female, child or baby. Just to make sure everyone gets something and the other was welcoming in anyone who was alone on Christmas day. I always look forward to Christmas with my family and friends and sometimes new friends. Merry Christmas from Sydney Australia 🇦🇺
You might be interested in listening to Tim Minchin's christmas song "White wine in the sun". Otherwise, if you want comedy, consider listening to his song "Prejudice".
@MoreJPS - You think Christmas day would be great?? Wait till you do New Years Eve here!! In Melbourne, you have summer time, and a public holiday the following day with Public Transport being free from 6pm on Dec 31st till 6pm January 1st - meaning you can go to a NYE party, stay out all night and party, and then take the train back home at dawn, and still have time to get out to the beach if you want!!
Here is a sad story, one of my school teachers do t celebrate Christmas, basically he doesn’t because his brother committed suicide in Christmas Day. I remember he also when he told the story he teared up as well.
I have a Flyscreens security screens and blinds business ,I love the fact that it’s not been so hot as it is normally at this time of year ,normally my season starts in mid October and this year it hasn’t started till about mid November, Usually my work clothes are dripping with sweat at the end of each day from about mid October but this year probably only about three times I’ve come home and my clothes are still wet with previous years they’d be still dripping in sweat,I am loving this cooler weather and people on here talking about a heatwave up here, they simply don’t have a clue, it’s almost 10pm the 16th of December and I have a cool breeze comin through my house and it’s normally like an oven …. Seriously like an oven at this time of the year….. I’m fucking lovin it! 🥳
Im very surprised she said she had never heard of Santa swapping reindeer for horses we literally have a famous Australian Xmas called " Six White Boomers".. we sang it through school in the 90's and my kids sing it too. It's very very common to see pics of Santa wearing Boardshorts and a hat & as a parent with lots of friends with kids let me tell you that leaving out milk is not common at all! Definitely some type of alcohol or even juice over milk. I think most families I know if they go to the beach it's after lunch but most seem to stay at home and swim in the pool etc and may go to the beach on Boxing Day but then again I live in a beachside area and have done for many years so we go the beach as a part of life all the time anyway.
Six White Boomers was released by Rolf Harris in 1980 or so '...Six white boomers, snow white boomers, Racing Santa Claus through the blazing sun. Six white boomers, snow white boomers, On his Australian run. ....' Search RU-vid.
Here's my experience with Australian Christmas. Santa struggles with our heat, so he comes wearing bather shorts. Instead of his sleigh, he chooses between a variety of vehicles, such as a jet ski, surfboard and even a rusty Holden Ute. Jingle bells is different to what your probably used to(have a listen some time). And finally..... It's HOT
My family spend the week before Christmas camping by a river or lake to go waterskiing everyday. My family and I are actually currently getting ready to spend the week by the Murray, it’s a great time, we invite family and friends to spend the week with us, and typically we watch movies outside with the mozzies, play some games, and watch carols my candlelight together. Its my favourite time, always get to have some fun during the summer, meet some fellow campers, and get thrown off the back of a boat😌
Great fun video again, great commentary, thank you. More great things for Aussie kids at Christmas: school has finished for the year, so no worrying about homework, tests, grades etc., just relaxation and enjoyment. Christmas Day is long and so there is a lot of time to play, and to play outdoors. Hearing you say you’re disappointed about plastic trees, then just waiting for her to mention spraying the natural tree for spiders - priceless!!! They are common in the bush, that’s where they live, but they are the small, harmless varieties usually - annoying, not worrying. I think the comment about different religions is a lovely thing about Australians. I know my non-Christian friends have no issue with me wishing them a merry Christmas time, just as when I wish them joy at times for their celebrations and they respond. We do have our own Christmas carols. One of those is “Six White Boomers”, a very famous but older Australian song, where Santa DOES swap his reindeer for six white kangaroos (boomers). Another had lyrics “Christmas in Australia's hot, cold and frosty's what it’s not.” Another is “Santa's moving to the South Pole.” Our Boxing Day is your Black Friday shopping.
In defence of Joel, I feel the need to say something on this matter. Believe it or not, Amercian English is more "English" than British and Australian English. If you don't know why, GoofGet you facts straight before soliciting advice. Merry Christmas.
We have the World Record for surfing Santas! 👏🧑🎄 Catholicism is probably the most common religion now, it was usually Anglican (Church of England, Protestant, Uniting!)
🎵Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut (b-ute)🎵 🎵Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden ute🎵 Chorus for the Australian version of jingle bells
Being Australian myself celebrating Christmas on Christmas day, my family eventually decided to celebrate on Christmas eve. As the younger ones got older, married and were under pressure to do Christmas "day" with in-laws, this was the perfect solution. It was also cooler at night and more romantic with all the Christmas lights, candles etc doing Christmas dinner and present opening at night ❤️
My grandfather was a store/mall Santa my entire childhood. Sadly, cancer took him 28 odd years ago. But I have his traditional Santa costume, dry cleaned & in the wardrobe. Not these modern fake felt units. But actual real looking gear. I'm quickly approaching 60. Turning very white, and am looking forward to taking the mantle back up in a number of ways. For my grand kids... and yours. Merry Christmas & love to you all xxx
We often used boxing day as a day to catchup with your mates to have a xmas with them after they all celebrated the day before with their families, and help each other eat the leftover food
A popular Christmas song here is Kevin Bloody Wilson’s ‘Hey Santa Claus!’ Tells you everything about what Australians think of Christmas. (For some reason, we don’t hear it on the radio that much)
I loved choosing a living Christmas tree as a kid. We have a couple of fake ones now because Christmas trees are poisonous to cats & dogs (idk if it’s all Christmas trees but I suggest looking it up before next Christmas). We did that window spray too & I loved my childhood Christmases. These days we have multiple parties each year because there are a lot of family & friends, we usually do a BBQ for at least one of those gatherings. It’s like 3 Christmases, one for friends a week or so before Christmas, a family Christmas as close as we can organise it (it’s been in November before) & then on Christmas Day we just have our household plus whoever else doesn’t have other plans. Prawns cocktails are big, my mum loves them. I still believe in Santa but I remember going to sit on his lap at the shopping market (mall)
lmao I just moved to Australia from New York and my fiance showed me this hilarious parody song "6 white boomers" XD and we actually saw someone's lights replacing the deer with Kangoroos on santa's sleigh. Can't wait to see his nan and pop with their awesome pool on boxing day (not sure what boxing day is still sounds like black friday all over again?) :) im excited for my first hot christmas.
Yeah, a hot Christmas.... not this bloody year! I live in Tasmania and we have the heaters going at a time we'd normally be turning the AC on for the first time of the year...
for me, christmas is just exchanging gifts, having lunch or dinner with my family (always bbq or roast) and just having a good time with your loved ones
Yeah, summer is so fucking hot and it is humid in most parts, as well as tropical cyclones to really screw things up. Getting very sunburnt, or just not caring and sleeping all day in air con.
Spiders are very common here in Oz. It’s not a home without a huntsman living in the corner 🤣 I’ve been saving the same spider from a watery death in my shower for a solid week now. I put him in my plant in the bathroom. And without fail, he’s right back under the shower head every day, struggling to get out 😱
My family gets Chrissie trees from the RFS (Rural Fire Service.) A fire house near us sells the trees, and the money they gather goes toward funding the underfunded Firey's. That's how most city Aussies get real trees I'd wager. Never encountered spiders from said trees. As for spiders in general, most of the species in Australia are insignificant ones. Very small garden and house spiders, (Like Daddy Long Legs.) that are easy to ignore or grow accustomed to. Bigger ones like Huntsman Spiders (The freaky big brown ones.) hunt other spiders, and the other spiders follow insects. Basically keep insects like flies out, you keep the food chain somewhat lacking for spiders and they'll be a fairly uncommon sight, maybe even rare. In summary, cleaning your house regularly keeps most of your problems away, making the place very liveable for an arachnophobic.
