My Three Favourite Things Are:

1. Timing

Being a super competitive person, my favourite thing about Christmas in Australia is that we get it before pretty much everyone else in the world.  Being just west of the International Date Line, Australia is the sixth country to wake up to Christmas day, and the five that come before us are pretty much Australian anyway (like New Zealand). Western Canada on the other hand is so far behind us that I’m pretty sure that by the time Christmas makes it to Vancouver it’s already New Year’s Eve here.

2. Vibe

Having Christmas in Summer means the holiday period comes at a time when Australia is at its most vibrant and alive. Schools are out, the long summer vacation is beginning, it’s incredibly hot, and the cities are buzzing with music festivals and community events.

3. Cultural Confusion

My childhood Christmas memories are a blur of mosquitoes, sunburn, prawns, backyard cricket, beaches, mangos, snakes, barbeques and camping. Yet despite these quite obvious signs of Summer, Australians still decorate our houses with snow-covered reindeer and suffer through having the oven on for four hours to bake a turkey when it’s 40 degrees Celsius outside. It may be a little confused, but it’s a lot of fun.