Our first Christmas in Australia was definitely different from what we are used to. The most obvious difference is that December is the height of summer here, which means the weather is sunny and hot and the days are long. The magic of Christmas seemed to be lost due to the fact that there was no snow outside and the use of Christmas lights seemed pointless because the sun didn’t set until 9:30 or close to 10:00 at night. Christmas also falls somewhere in the middle of summer holidays for kids so many people are on holidays during the Christmas season.

We are not complaining though! Torquay came alive with tourists and the beach was full of colourful tents, kids playing cricket, sandcastle creations and all types of boards; surfboards, SUP boards (stand up paddle), kiteboards, windsurfing boards and boogie boards. We spend countless days on the beach, jumping the waves, learning to boogie board, digging holes in the sand and collecting shells. Not a bad way to enjoy the Christmas season.

For the sake of the kids though, we tried to get into the Christmas spirit by participating in many of the regular Christmas traditions. For example, Elf on the Shelf found us in Australia…and brought a friend for Reid.

We put up a Christmas tree and filled it with homemade decorations.

We made Christmas cards and wrote letters to Santa.

We made gingerbread houses and entered them into a competition at the local golf course. They put all the entries on display in the lobby and it made for quite a unique conversation piece. Alexis and Reid did not win any prizes but enjoyed the process of making them and voting for themselves over and over again.

Geelong had a Christmas discovery trail where you could follow a map around the centre of Geelong to locate numbered stars on the sidewalk. Each star was some sort of display, activity or point of interest. Alexis really got into reading the map and leading Reid and I around the city centre.

Alexis and Reid inside a giant snow globe, riding the reindeer, standing in Santa’s shadow and a window display of the nativity scene were some of the stars on the discovery trail.

We also did some Christmas baking, which we discovered is not a thing to do here in Australia at Christmas time. Actually, any kind of baking or cooking, using the oven, is not common at Christmas. People here have cold salads and seafood at Christmas. If there is any cooking, it is done on the barbie.

Shane hosted an ‘ugly Christmas sweater’ themed party for his area where the families and partners of his employees were invited. We had trouble finding ugly Christmas sweaters due to the summer season, so we settled for these ‘ugly Christmas t-shirts’.

Melbourne got into the Christmas spirit and also had a discovery trail. We spend a weekend there and enjoyed some of the sights of Christmas.

Although the sights were Christmas-themed, the Aussie influence was very clear. This Lego Christmas tree featured Santa in shorts holding a surfboard as well as an elf with a cricket bat.

We visited the incredible Epicure gingerbread village featuring Melbourne landmarks such as Luna Park and the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground). The window displays at the Myer department store had moving parts and told the story of The Little Dog and the Christmas Wish. There was a lineup down the street to view these windows. I enjoyed the exceptional coffee at the cafés that spill out into the iconic laneways hidden in amongst the streets of Melbourne.

Back in Geelong, we had morning tea and a photo with Santa, followed by a ride on an old  fashioned carousal. This was the first year Alexis and Reid have wanted to stand beside Santa (sitting on his knee was too far) and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. After we finished with him, Alexis commented on his accent…lucky for me, because she had never actually talked or even got close to Santa in past years, I was able to convince her that Santa really does have an accent.

On Christmas Eve, after eating the cookies and milk, Santa managed to find us in Australia, get in through the front door (due to lack of a fireplace) and left some gifts for Alexis and Reid.

On Christmas day, we celebrated the birth of Jesus at church and spent the rest of the day at the beach, blue skies, 41 degree weather and all. Although we missed our family and friends dearly during this Christmas season, we enjoyed a gorgeous day the beach, with just the four of us. We are truly blessed.

As summer is approaching, I thought it is now time to educate ourselves and the kids on marine life in Australia. So a trip to the Sea Life Aquarium in Melbourne seemed like a good start. We learned about a wide variety of sea life including seahorses, jellyfish, starfish, a massive crocodile, penguins and of course, sharks.

 

The shark exhibition was particular exciting, especially when the sharks swam right up to the window we were standing in front of and over our heads as we walked through the tunnel.

 

The last stop at the Aquarium was the Penguin Playground. Reid tried to copy the penguins as they waddled along. It was entertaining, for not only Alexis and I, but for most of the other visitors standing around as well.