Christmas Traditions in Australia

Deck the halls with boughs of holly - but do the Aussies?

As the festive season surrounds us, we thought we’d bring you our Christmas guide to Australia and the UK, including traditions, facts and tales from the two countries. I’ve got my santa hat on so let’s begin!
Christmas in Australia occurs at the height of summer where the temperature can reach a sweltering 30°C whilst here in the UK, us Brits are wrapping up warm to beat off an average temperature of just 1°C with only 1 to 2 hours of sunshine, whilst down in Oz the sun shines all day long!
Carol singing is a huge favourite in Australia as well as in the UK and every year thousands of people turn out in Melbourne for the annual Christmas Eve Carols by Candlelight, a tradition that evolved in 1937. Many other Australian cities now follow suit with their own carol singing events in the weeks before Christmas.
The traditional Christmas meal in Australia is much the same as in the UK, with a turkey dinner topping the list and a flaming plum pudding for dessert. The only difference is that they will probably have their turkey outside on the verandah whilst we huddle around an open fire (or gas or electric – whatever!). In fact Bondi Beach becomes crowded with thousands of Christmas Day picnickers.

Christmas Day on Bondi Beach is popular with backpackers.

In the UK it was tradition to put a silver coin in our Christmas pud which was said to bring good luck to whoever found it – if they didn’t choke on it first! In Australia the tradition was a small gold nugget although now they would bake the pudding with a small favour inside, much as the French do at Easter.
After the Christmas meal, the Brits favourite activity, apart from watching the TV, is playing games. Charades and board games being the most popular. Whilst in Australia, because of the warm weather, Aussies prefer to burn off that Christmas pud with a spot of cricket or swimming.
Australians also have their own version of a White Christmas. It’s a type of confectionery made of rice krispies, fruit and coconut oil and traditionally eaten around Christmastime.

Australians prefer this colourful Christmas bush to our prickly holly.

Our traditional Christmas decorations are holly, ivy and mistletoe – dating back to Pagan times. The Australians however like to decorate their homes with Christmas Bush, a native plant that has small, red flowered leaves.
Santa Claus arrives in Australia – by surfboard! Santa surfing is now popular down under as hundreds of people take to the warm oceans and ride the waves dressed as Santa. Many surfing clubs now hold Christmas charity events where participants done the famous red costume for charity.
Talking of Santa, in the hot Australian outback what better animal to pull Santa’s sleigh along than six white boomers? A boomer is a special kangaroo that Santa uses to pull his sleigh along the rough terrain of the outback. The boomers were made famous in the song by Rolf Harris and John Brown back in 1960. The boomers’ names are Jackaroo, Bluey, Two-up, Desert-head, Curly and Snow.
And can anyone name Santa’s reindeer? Go on, give it a go! Answers are at the bottom of the page – no peeking! We’ll give you a clue, there are 9 of them.
Australia’s worst Christmas was back in 1974 when, on Christmas Eve, Cyclone Tracey ravaged Darwin and by the following evening, almost 70% of Darwin was in ruins with many people left homeless and devastated.
Kim Kimeklis has won multiple awards in Brisbane’s Christmas lights competition and has earned the nickname of ‘Christmas Nut’ by her husband. The lights and decorations take over every inch of her house and garden and approximately 300 – 400 people visit each night from the 1 December when she switches them on. It costs her $100 a month for the low-voltage lights and they have to be checked for safety by an electrician before they are turned on.

The brightest house in the UK!

In the UK, the most brightly lit house award goes to Alex Goodhind in Melksham who actually paid workmen to fit an industrial sized cable under his house to accommodate his 100,000 lights that took him 3 weeks to assemble. He’ll also pay an extra £500 for his electricity bill.
Australia has some sporting Boxing Day traditions. A cricket test match is held on Boxing Day every year in the Melbourne Cricket Ground that can attract up to 90,000 spectators. And in Sydney, Boxing Day heralds the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, a 630 nautical mile race that can last several days.
Australia has it’s own version of Jingle Bells. Instead of riding in a one-horse open sleigh, you would be riding in a ute. It’s a two seater vehicle with an open tray behind it that was widely in use in the Australian countryside.
So that’s our Christmas fun guide to Australia and all that remains is for us here at Embrace Australia to wish everyone who visits us a very peaceful and prosperous Christmas and New Year.
Did you get all the reindeer names? Here they are: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph. All of the names apart from Rudolph are taken from the poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Rudolph came from a story and colouring book created by Robert L May for his employer at the Montgomery Ward department store. His brother in law later penned the well-known song that turned Rudolph into a star!