There are three types of land mass on this planet; countries, islands and continents. Australia is all three. Naturally it has all types of weather from snow on the southern mountains to heat waves in the deserts.

There’s no snow and ice at Christmas, instead we have summer weather and the temperature can reach 40 degrees Centigrade without blinking an eye.

Many families still have a traditional European hot Christmas dinner of roast meat and vegetables with apple sauce or gravy but with high temperatures in the kitchen, many Australian women are handing the cooking over to the man of the house and the out-door barbecue is brought into play. But it is not just beef steaks, lamb chops and pork sausages that are sizzled on the hot plate; you will also find prawns, whole fish and other seafood taking its place as the Australian Christmas dinner.

The traditional drink to wash it down is beer for the men or wine for the ladies. The kids are still stuck with soft drink and lemonade.

The barbecue meats and fish are served smorgasbord style with salads and side dishes of finger food. Following the lunch-time feast, many find they are too stuffed with food to move so a shady place is found under a tree, bush or even under the veranda with the dogs. (Dogs always know where the coolest spot can be found).

Once recovered from the gorging, which can take a couple of hours, the family sits around drinking cold drinks in the shade or inside under the new air conditioner. Gifts are handed out by the nominated Saint Nicholas or Santa Claus. If the father is too tired from his barbecue cooking, others are delegated to assist him and every one has a good time tearing paper from gifts and smiling at the presents inside. Not everyone gets what they would have liked as a gift but everything is accepted in the spirit in which it was given.

Whilst the adults continue drinking and laughing at the anecdotes that abound once the alcohol starts taking affect, the children continue running around in the heat, chasing each other amidst laughing and screaming and having a good time with friends and cousins they haven’t seen for a while. Finally, the evening meal is prepared. This can be another barbecue or it can be cold meats and salads cooked the day before by the ladies and brought out from the kitchen together with sweets which take the form of cream sponges, cheese cakes, small cup cakes, jellies, trifles and other sweet delights. Side dishes such as salads, nuts and dried fruits are served all day usually on a table opposite the barbecue area.

Darkness falls around 8 P.M. but that does not stop the children chasing around nor the adults drinking and laughing until it is time for some to return home or to prepare for bed if they are staying at the house on hastily prepared spare beds, or crowded into a double bed (This is the children of course, not the adults).

Altogether, Christmas in Australia is completely different from the European style celebrated around the fire in snow covered homes and scenery, but I would not change it for anything because Christ was not born in the snow, He was born in God’s country and what closer could you get to it than Australia with its mountains, beaches, forests and wide deserts?

Ian Tampling 23 Dec 2009-12-23