Southern Christmas

Snow? At Christmas Time? I don't think so...

Christmas in Sydney: mostly in pictures (because Christmas is no time for blogging)....

Balmoral Beach, Christmas Day

Christmas morning

So for those readers who have never experienced a Southern hemisphere Christmas, here's how it works: first, the weather is a balmy 25 degrees Celsius (about 77 degrees F), and everyone complains about how it isn't really "Christmas weather" (i.e. it should be about 10 degrees warmer).  Waking on a bright sunny morning, you might choose to go to the beach for a swim in the ocean -- you'll find the beach crowded with like-minded souls even at 8 am.

The Pud.

Those less lucky will be stuck back in the kitchen, madly beginning the cooking marathon that will produce a typical - and completely inappropriate but well-loved tradition - mid-winter meal of roast meats and vegetables and a warm fruity Christmas pud. With custard. Unless you are a complete renegade and have abandoned this time-honoured ritual, in which case you may enjoy a light seafood lunch, having raided the Sydney Fish Market last night for the latest catch.

By midday, the sun being over the yard-arm, the bubbles will be opened. This helps the cooking process enormously. By now the kitchen is ridiculously hot. If you have eggnog, it will be iced.

After the feast is produced and consumed, the Opening of Gifts may commence. Any little kids present will take centre stage at this point, if they haven't already.

The Best Christmas Expression of the Year.

The mangoes are wonderful this year.

Some choose to picnic for their Chrissy dinner, and if you take a post-prandial harbour-side walk you'll see them enjoying the last sip of sauvignon blanc and the last slice of smoked salmon or fresh mango in the late-setting sun.

In the North, where the pagan pre-Christmas celebrations evolved, they say, to leaven the sad cold depths of mid-winter, I guess that the warming food, non-iced eggnog and a roaring fire are still a big help. But in the South, Christmas is about the sun and making the most of lovely weather. Which we did today.

Merry Christmas.

"Today's Conditions" at Balmoral Beach

Balmoral Beach: The Bathers.

Christmas evening, Sydney, 2011

Mild. Sunny Lovely.