Christmas in Oz by Megan

Christmas in Australia was amazing, but didn't feel like Christmas. We all really missed our family and friends, and our Christmas traditions like the christingle with our friends like... the Barkers, the Jordans (and Michelle), the Allsopps, and our annual trip to the cinema on Christmas Eve with the Stones, the Platts and the Daniels! I especially missed Christmas dinner with my Nanan and Grandad! As well as all of those, I also missed going up to Scotland to see our family and friends there over Christmas. My class mates were also very much missed! Although it sounds like I didn't enjoy Christmas, we had a great time; it was just very different. On Christmas Eve we flew to Melbourne. We took a taxi to our hotel, and then went over to the shop to buy stuff for a picnic on a beach on Christmas Day. Emma and I also got 5 dollars to spend on my mum and dad for a little gift for Christmas morning, and they did the same for us (or so we thought!!) When we had finished, we went back to the apartment, then set off to Federation square to watch 'carols by candle light' on a big screen. This is a concert that is broadcast on Australian television, and is a Christmas eve tradition in Australia. It was very busy with people sitting all over on picnic rugs. People were selling light up candles for charity. During the concert, the people who had bought a candle stood up at the back and made a human candle! It just looked like a line of light. Ha ha ha!

We went back to the apartment around 11 o'clock, and got to bed ready for Christmas!! In the morning we gave gave each other presents. My mum and dad went over the 5 dollar rule and went to the 30 dollar rule! We packed up our picnic and went to the beach at a place called St Kilda. The beach was very busy, and had lots of English people there who were over for the cricket! Lots of people had Santa hats and outfits on, and some people had mini Christmas trees which they had stuck into the sand! We think we might have been on television, as a news reporter was interviewing the group of English people next to us about their Aussie Christmas, and Emma and I stood in the background.

It was really hot at the beach, so we all went into the water after lunch, along with everyone else at St. Kilda it seemed!

After a long day at the beach, we got the tram back to the city centre. We walked long the river before going back to our apartment.

The television in Australia is rubbish; the Christmas film in the evening was JAWS, which we watched whilst eating lots of chocolate and popcorn. (Maybe not the best choice of film to watch whilst on holiday on the coast of Australia!!) On Boxing Day my dad went to the cricket at the MCG, where there was a world record crowd of 92,000 people. He really enjoyed it even though England didn't have much to play for.

My mum, Emma and I hit the Boxing Day sales. It was so crowded we had to queue for the escalator in one of the main stores, Myer, which we thought was like our John Lewis. The streets were very busy with street artists and buskers. Emma and I sat down to watch an artist creating pictures on canvas using spray paint and brushes. They were finished quickly, but looked really effective. When we were all shopped out, we took our books and some drinks to sit down by the river. It was also very busy, and we watched a comedian doing a act trying to escape from some chains. I really enjoyed my Aussie Christmas...looking forward to my Aussie new year now!!