by Rosetta Taylor

Created on: October 21, 2009   Last Updated: April 29, 2012

Like many western nations, the essentially secular nation of Australia has embraced the nominally Christian festival of Christmas with enthusiasm. That is not to say that there are not many millions of practising Christians in Australia, all of whom regard the Christmas season as primarily a time for reflection on the birth of Jesus Christ and thanksgiving for his life on earth. However, for the vast majority of Australians, Christmas is a time for sharing a holiday with family and close friends, exchanging gifts, eating and drinking enormous quantities of special food and beverages and generally having a good time. So far, so predictable.

There is no doubt that, on the surface, there is nothing particularly distinctive about the way Australians celebrate Christmas. However, one apparently tiny detail makes all the difference. The date of Christmas is just the same of course, but non-Australians may easily overlook the fact that December 25 in the southern hemisphere is not the thick of winter but the height of summer. It coincides with not only the end of the school year but also the start of the general summer vacation season, when thoughts turn to lazy days on the beach or soaking up the sun beside a pool. Imagine end-of-school-year functions, family summer vacations and the Christmas holiday all crammed into a few hectic weeks and you begin to get the picture. Rather than being a bright spot in the middle of a cold and dreary season, Christmas is sometimes in danger of becoming yet another chore to be packed into an already tight summer schedule.

Enough already with the grinching. There are in fact some pleasurable and different aspects to an Australian Christmas. Contrary to popularly-held belief, particularly in the UK, Australians do not descend on Bondi beach en masse for a Christmas day barbecue in the blistering heat. We leave that to the British backpackers, preferring instead to remain indoors in the air-conditioned comfort of our homes, sipping on a long, cool drink. Turkey, if eaten at all, is cooked a day or two earlier and consumed cold, along with salads and seafood such as lobster and prawns. (You probably call them shrimps, and no, we don't cook them on the barbie.) The days of sweltering in the kitchen on Christmas day to prepare the traditional English meal of roast turkey, potatoes, hot vegetables and Christmas pudding are long gone. Christmas lunch has become a casual affair which may stretch from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. as friends and extended

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