Children playing on fluffy beds of white snow, frosted window panes, a steaming mug of hot cocoa to beat the biting cold — when it’s the season for thick coats and spiced cappuccinos, you know it’s Christmas time. That is, if you’re in the northern hemisphere.
If you’ve ever spent a holiday in the land down under, then you know that a “White Christmas” is more for the cinema than what really happens around these parts. The southern hemisphere isn’t exactly the coldest around Christmas time. And by that, we mean it’s typically blazing hot.
But don’t worry, twinkling lights, tinsel, and holly are still present. It’s just that, unlike in the northern hemisphere, Christmas season is around summer time in the land of Oz.
Santa in the summer
Around Oz, Santa trades in Rudolph and all of the other reindeer for kangaroos or, as the song goes, “six white boomers”. If you’re lucky, you’ll also find Father Christmas swap in his red jumpsuit for red board shorts and (maybe) a floral shirt. Can you blame him? It is scorching hot! And even Santa deserves to dress down once in a while.
P.S. If you’re really lucky, you’ll find Santa in a lifesaving surf boat patrolling the seas. In the land downunder, he doesn’t just bring joy to kids from 1 to 92, he saves lives too.
Here We Come-A-Caroling — Aussie Style
With most popular Christmas songs talking about “white” and snow, you can’t blame the Aussies for making carols that are a little closer to home. From “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” to “Roo Roo the Red Nose Kanga” — because reindeer and hot weather don’t mix. Try listening to Bucko & Champs’ very Aussie version of “Jingle Bells”. You’re going to have a big laugh at the very cheeky lyrics.
Do you want to build a… sandman?
Image by Melissa Brawner
Now that we’ve established how Christmas in Australia happens during the most blistering season, you’ve probably figured out by now that most people around the beautiful land of Oz won’t be able build a snowman. But when you inject a little creativity and resourcefulness, some mad skills in sculpting, and a little cheeky humour and you get very cool sand snowmen from the locals. They can be fashioned in your traditional tophat and scarf, or even in a very tropics-appropriate sunhat and sunglasses.
The Christmas Bush
For most of the world, people stop with (whether real or artificial) evergreen conifers, splashed with twinkle lights, glitzy balls, and other decorations. While this is also a common practice in Australia, we also have something we call a Christmas Bush. It’s a native plant with festive little red flowered leaves that just pop with colour around Christmas time. You will definitely find a lot of these around Oz during the holiday season.
Fire up the barbie
Relax, no blond and blue hair plastic dolls are harmed during the holidays. “Barbie” in Aussie slang is a little more delectable, a little less plastic: barbie means barbecue. Addressing the people from the northern hemisphere: remember all those hot summer days when dads would fire up the grill in the backyard, and ice cold beer was passed around? Think of that during Christmas, near the beach. Paradise.
It’s almost time for the New Year but the party in Oz never ends. If you haven’t experienced or seen these during your holiday, you still have a bit of time to tick these off your list and experience a full Aussie Christmas. For all your land transportation needs around Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, and Sydney, book a cheap car hire from Alpha! From our Alpha family, with love — Happy Holidays!
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