A Christmas Summer Holiday in Australia

One of the main attractions of moving to Australia has got to be the outdoor lifestyle. Australia has miles and miles and miles of golden beaches, hectares and hectares of bush, hundreds of national parks, scenic rolling hills, serene countryside and stunning hinterlands.

All of which is, of course, made even more enjoyable by the weather. It hardly ever lets you down.

So it was with some confidence that we headed off on our one-week summer Christmas holiday. Yes, sounds weird doesn’t it?

Three families in three separate cars with three Elizabeth sized children all headed south for more than three hours, destination Yamba. Two teenagers completed our 11 strong group.

Together we all played Balderdash. But that’s another story and we did more than that, as you will soon see.

Yamba mapRegular readers will remember Yamba, we drove through it during our Australian road trip, but we only stopped for one night. A seaside town with 11 beaches, a river and a cinema deserves a longer stay than that.

Now, here’s a question that would normally get you looking at your watch and saying something like “Ah, hmm, no, I’ve got to go and feed the cat.

Ahem, here goes…

Would you like to see my holiday photos?

I’m hoping you will stay, after all, I’m not going to show you all 190, the cat will live. Here’s a visual (click on any picture to enlarge it) view of our holiday…

The house we had rented was on the river…

Yamba on the river (1)

 

Yamba on the river (2)

This was our house…

Yamba on the river (3)

This is how the river looked at about 6 o’clock in the morning on New Year’s Day; yes, it was a long night…

Sunrise

The house had a pool as well, which was great, the kids lived in it…

pool (1)

It had lights at night…

pool (2)

There was another pool though in the area, called Angourie Blue Pool. It’s a popular swimming hole, people go there to jump off a cliff. I didn’t do it, too scared. All of our kids did it though, scaring the bejesus out of us parents…

Angourie Blue Pool

Angourie Blue Pool (2)

Angourie Blue Pool (3)

I’m not sure we got around all 11 beaches, but we certainly saw these ones…

Yamba beach (1)

Football on the beach…

Yamba beach (2)

Catching a wave…

Yamba beach (3)

Quiet…

Yamba beach (4)

Here’s another beach…

Yamba beach (5)

And another one…

Yamba beach (6)

Oh, and don’t forget that cinema. Not exactly a multiplex, but have you ever seen one as cute as this? Yamba Cinema…

Yamba Cinema

 Yes, Christmas in Australia; it’s different, but I’m getting used to it.

Visa Assessment Service
{ 11 comments… add one }
  • Yuri March 15, 2014, 7:17 pm |

    Well, christmas holidays in Oz look much better than where i live: +1 C and a heavy rain 🙂

    • BobinOz March 17, 2014, 7:33 pm |

      Sounds pretty awful, not even a snowman for you. 🙂

  • Graeme Lloyd February 19, 2014, 9:15 pm |

    Bob,

    ***^**&*%$%&O(*(&^%%!!!!!

    Cheers,
    Graeme 😉

  • Graeme Lloyd February 19, 2014, 12:24 am |

    Hi Bob,

    Thanks for the reply – sorry, I only just noticed it!

    Yes, good point. I think two ‘different’ days of Christmas is preferable to the longer winter!

    Oh well, must go and put the heating on. 🙂

    Cheers,
    Gra

    • BobinOz February 19, 2014, 5:13 pm |

      Meanwhile I’ve got all the doors open and the ceiling fan on 🙂

      Cheers, Bob

  • Ricardo February 18, 2014, 11:50 pm |

    Boa noite Bob, as Ivan said it depends on what you’re used to. For me Christmas’ times means rainy and hot days as most my Xmas were here in Brazil. When living in Colorado I could experience a withe Christmas I have to agree that it looks nicier, but the feeling was different for me.

    • BobinOz February 19, 2014, 5:09 pm |

      Hi Ricardo

      Another vote for ‘it’s what you’re used to’ when it comes to Christmas, and as I said to Ivan above, that makes more sense to me. Maybe my Queenslander friend is the one out of step here.

      I sort of get her point though, probably every movie ever made about Christmas is set in a wintry snowy environment, not on a hot golden sandy beach, so cold is the generalised norm.

      Cheers, Bob

  • Ivan Colledge February 18, 2014, 11:21 pm |

    G’day Bob,
    When I was a kid we always had our annual holidays camping at the beach over the Christmas/New Year period. As a young guy I took a “working holiday” in Britain (in the 60’s) and had three Christmases in London. To me it never felt like Christmas at all and you went back to work the day after Boxing Day. Guess it really depends on what you are used to and where you grew up. Love reading your blog and your perspective of things.
    Regards
    Ivan

    • BobinOz February 19, 2014, 5:04 pm |

      Hi Ivan

      Yes, that would make sense to me, like you I think that what you are brought up with and what you are used to is what would seem normal. So I was a little surprised when a born and bred Queenslander said she didn’t feel right that Christmases were hot.

      Good to hear from you, and glad you are liking my stuff.

      Cheers, Bob

  • Graeme Lloyd January 9, 2014, 10:05 pm |

    Great photos Bob! A mate of mine has settled in Adelaide and his FB update informed everyone that he was going for a surf, NY’s day. This opportunity wasn’t available to me (!) and begs the question why don’t I follow suit. But it sounds daft, because why the idea of spending NY in the sun sounds fine, the idea of spending Xmas on the beach, doesn’t. Granted, whether we have a ‘white Christmas’ these days is hit and miss (no sign of it yet), but with regards to your final comment, I’m wondering how you’re finding this ‘difference’.

    Thanks.
    Gra

    • BobinOz January 10, 2014, 2:29 pm |

      Hi Gra

      I think I have now spent eight Christmases in Australia, none of them had ever really felt like Christmas. So I know what you are saying. I ended my article by saying “I’m getting used to it” but it’s not easy.

      It still doesn’t feel like Christmas, but whether it feels like it or not, it is. Christmas is traditionally cold and white Christmases are the dream. I think even some Australians born and bred would probably like a cold Christmas.

      That said, Christmas only lasts a couple of days, winters in the UK last a lot longer than that. I’d rather put up with two hot Christmas days in Australia than have to put up with a very long winter.

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts about it, Bob

Cancel reply

Leave a Comment

If your comment doesn’t get answered, find out why…..
FAQs and Comment Policy.