Christmas in Australia

[Grimalkin]

Has anyone spent Christmas in Australia (Sydney in particular)? Does everyone really go to the beach for one huge party or do they batten down the hatches and stay home?

[RedJimmy]

Yeah - i was down at Bondi Beach a couple of years aga and it was heaving. I reckon the majority of people were English and Irish though. Dont know how many Aussies actually go down to their local beaches ???

[Grimalkin]

Was it good? Did it feel christmassy? Thanks RedJimmy!

[stoo_pid]

We ended up swimming with Santa hats on. That was about as Christmassy for us as it got I'm afraid.

[NiceCupOfTea]

I went to Oz when I was seven and we were there over Christmas. We did all the usual family stuff - big dinner, visiting etc - I think we ate dinner outside, which is the only difference to England where we'd all die of the cold. They do actually send Christmas cards with pictures of snowy scenes on the front.

[Nyza]

i actually live in sydney, i've beeen to the beach a couple of times on christmas mainly when i've been up the coast with my family. But usually we just hang out at relos houses and jump in the pools and play a game of footy or cricket in street. and have a drink or 2 or 4 around the barbie.

[Sioux]

Has anyone spent Christmas in Australia (Sydney in particular)? Does everyone really go to the beach for one huge party or do they batten down the hatches and stay home?

Well I spent Xmas Eve and Xmas Day in �Syders��as a tourist. On Xmas Eve we treated ourselves to a seaplane trip from Rose Bay � up the Parramata River to Cottage Inn (a fabby restaurant) and had a superb lunch� then because of the sea plane experiencing windshear to its rudder and could not come back to collect us, we had to travel back to Syndey in a stretched limo� the lap of luxury�. Tough gig but someone had to do it�

On Xmas morning I ticked off one of my �Things to Do�.. I had Bucks Fizz brekky in my hotel room on the fifth floor of the Intercontinental Hotel, with a backdrop view of the Bridge over Sydney Harbour to the left and the Opera House to the right� Stupendous�
The later morning itself was spent wandering round outside the Opera House� jumping from shaded area to shaded area (temps started at 9:30am it was 34 degrees).. then got back to the hotel for a slap up �All you can eat buffet� � The best I�ve EVER seen�. Every culinary discipline/taste was catered for.

It was the year of the Xmas fires which started late afternoon outside Sydney and by 5:00pm the sun disappeared behind a grey veil of smoke� We were too stuffed from Xmas buffet lunch to go out to get an evening meal� though later on, we had a dose of the munchies and so ordered room service which was just the ticket�

All in all, the Xmas feel was there but in an Aussie tradition which was lovely.. it was weird seeing Santa and Reindeer when the temps were splitting the flags outside� but I got used to it.

If you�ve the opportunity to spend Xmas in OZ�. DO IT!

Of course there's also New Zealand... have spent Xmas there too and that was wonderful....