When it came to my first Christmas in Australia, I was horrified to learn that the traditions on this side of the world are a little different to back home. Given that it’s the height of summer with scorching hot temperatures in December, the typical roast dinner and all the trimmings is swapped for a spread of seafood and cold salads. Consequently, Australians have developed their own tradition of celebrating ‘Christmas in July’ during their winter time (despite it remaining around 20 degrees here in Sydney!)
In honour of this celebration, my PR firm hosted their very own Christmas party this month with all the tinsel and outrageous festive decor in check. Catching the ferry from Barangaroo to Balmain as the sun set, we made our way to The East Village Hotel to get merry over mulled wine and a pub trivia quiz.
Once sat at our tables, everyone pulled their crackers, popped on their paper hats and the trivia commenced. Plenty of wines down and soon the roast dinner was served. We were presented with a typical feast of turkey, roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, brussel sprouts, green beans, cranberry sauce and plenty of gravy. The only missing key component was the Yorkshire puds, but I’ll forgive the Aussies on this one 😉
To finish we were treated to a platter of deserts including mince pies and fruit cake. With bellies full and the trivia over, whilst everyone continued on drinking at the bar, my night cap was an order of a pot of tea…you can take the girl outta England, but you can’t take the English outta the girl!
Dani Aneka 