Christmas in Australia!
I am constantly seeking new adventures, and my biggest fear is being bored!
In 1980, I traveled to Australia to stay there for six months. I had met a couple who lived there when they visited Sweden. They had previously worked at High Chaparral, where I also worked, and they were visiting old friends. Of course, I had to ask them about life “Down Under,” and before I knew it, I had been invited to visit!
That’s not something you say to me without me taking it seriously! I started saving money, and after a year, I had enough for a plane ticket. It felt like an amazing opportunity, especially since traveling to Australia wasn’t very common back then. We stayed in touch, and soon, the plans for my trip to Australia were in full swing.
A lot happened during those six months, but today, I’ve chosen to tell you about Christmas, not about the horses, since it’s that time of year right now.
It was a Swedish couple I was visiting, so the Christmas traditions were almost the same as I was used to. What didn’t quite match, though, was the temperature. Christmas in Australia falls during summer, and it’s very warm. You might not think about it, but it’s quite hard to get into the Christmas spirit when summer is in full swing, the grass is green, and the sun is blazing high in the sky.
Willy and Rosie did their best with Swedish Christmas food, and in the morning, Willy came in with an axe and handed it to me.
“You can go out and find a Christmas tree,” he said.
That was probably the strangest feeling I’ve ever had—walking outside with an axe in 30-degree heat to find something that looked like a Christmas tree. The result can be seen in the picture. When I came back with a bush, they thought I had done an excellent job, and Willy made a stand for it.
We didn’t have much to decorate it with, but we improvised and found a few things to hang on it, including a Danish flag I had brought with me for some odd reason. 🙂
All our efforts were completely ruined when the cat decided it was fantastic that we had brought her a toy. She climbed all the way to the top of the “tree,” causing it to bend, and then she let go, scattering the decorations everywhere. We had to gather the remains and put them back on the tree.
As dusk fell, I heard bells and jingles outside. I should add that we were living about 8 kilometers from the nearest house, so imagine my surprise when a truck appeared with Santa Claus and clowns! It turned out to be a couple from a campground by the sea, about 20 kilometers away, who had a tradition of driving around and handing out small presents to everyone.
I had met them earlier; they had a small shop with fantastic sea-themed items I had never seen before. The clowns they brought along were two Danish guys camping there (apparently, Santa Claus in Australia has clowns with him) who thought it would be fun to join the ride and meet people. Imagine my surprise when I got to speak Danish on Christmas Eve in Australia!
We had a great time, but it was definitely the strangest Christmas Eve I have ever experienced.
