Christmas a la Australia
While our English cousins are knee deep in snow, and expecting a cosy white Christmas around a log fire, we here in Southern regions will be sweltering in 40deg.C heat (104deg.F). For many it will mean a Christmas picnic at the beach, or a BBQ around the pool. What a contrast!
It is also bushfire season, when firies and volunteers will be called out to battle blazes in tinder dry bush. I recall one Christmas day many years ago, as we stood on the beach at Cronulla (South of Sydney) as a bushfire raged across the bay in the Royal National Park. The smoke almost obscured the sun which was just a red ball throwing an eerie light on everything. Blackened leaves and twigs drifted down and littered the sand, littered everything, and left a black tide mark as the waves washed them up. It was like you might imagine Armageddon to be.
Here is an early morning smoke-hazy photo I took on the beach at Umina during recent bushfires.
Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays everyone, whatever you celebrate in your part of the world. Here's also wishing you a very happy, prosperous and healthy new year!
Mariette ;0)
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Christmas Day in the Darwin will not only be hot but humid, this time of year we sit anywhere between 80 -99 % humidity, above that we get wet, actually soaked. We have glorious thunderstorms and torrential rains with the most lightning strikes in the world, there has to be some good amongst living with crocodiles.
We plan to enjoy a white Christmas one year but this year will be hot, with cooling dips in the pool and a cold lunch of prawns, oysters, turkey and ham with salads and fresh mango daiquiris, yum yum.
I hope our firies all over get to stay home with their families for Christmas and to everyone, have a safe and happy festive season.
cheers
Liz
Oh boy, Liz, I'm about as far North, and as close to the Equator as I want to go. I have dogs shaking and trembling with the occasional thunderstorm we have here - thunderstorms are glorious to watch, but no thanks!
That sounds like a great Aussie Christmas you are having - have a great day!
H Mariette, yes another scorcher. It's 6.07 am here where I am. I've been up since 4am. Couldn't sleep it was so hot yesterday. Reprieve today 21/12, and back into again tomorrow 38 -39? I've not checked the weather this morning, so hopefully it will be cooler. Merry Christmas to you Mariette and a Happy New Year. Hopefully a better one for the animals too.
Yes, a lot cooler here too this morning. I went to the beach with my camera to catch sunrise, but it was too overcast - no sun to be seen! Have a good one, Annie!
great picture! Warmth would be nice - its very cold here in the Northwest states of the U.S. - and Merry Christmas and happy new year to you also.
Warm would be good, as long as it's not really hot and humid as well. I might stick with what we have here, rather than suffer the cold and slush. Nothing's ever perfect .... (sigh).
Love your pictures and your post reminding us of how differently all of us here at WA experience Christmas. Wish you Merry Christmas and happy, healthy and prosperous new year too.
Just read Damien's 'crazy' post and when I read 'shoveling', my brain instantly supplied 'snow' and had to properly think when it read 'gravel'. I originally come from Austria where we have a lot more snow than England, and being hot at Christmas has always been a strange concept to me.
I did find Damien's post hard going - also because I hate 'text-speak' and don't even use it when texting, so my brain has to 'translate' every 4 into a 'for'...
I think being hot at Christmas is also a strange concept for many Aussies. They send Christmas cards with snowy scenes, and some still have a traditional English Christmas dinner with plum pud and all. I'm with you on the text-speak - must be because we're a bit old fashioned, maybe?
Hi Mariette, nice post - great snap
(ps i worked a looooong day today - that map looks about right :(..........;) )
verry good point Mariette,
which I neglected to A seriously -
it is serious.....
this is G's evolutionary baby step........
this tower of babel is a complex issue....
I can't even imagine where u begin to solve this kind of a puzzle.....
its one thing to do a pg translate..............?...................
Gee Damien, now even I don't know what you are talking about!
Today is cooler - much more comfortable to shovel lots of gravel.
Yes it's certainly been hot here in Adelaide this week we had a top of 43 deg.C yesterday and not much cooler today ,,,, so 40deg.C =104deg.F I was thinking about that metric yesterday I was going to put a comment up here at WA about it, anyway Merry Christmas have a good one :)
It hasn't been too hot until now. It was around 38degC (100degF) here today, enough to keep me inside for most of the day with the aircon on.
Hi Edgie - I'm in SA too, 35 km north of Gawler. You may be my closest WA neighbour in all time. Do you mind if I ask where you are from please? Cheers - Berny
Merry Christmas! I love that picture, beautiful. I am in Arizona, so no white Christmas for me :( At least it's not in the 100's for a few more months.
Hi Stacy, thanks - I should send you some more pics for your free-pic website. I had an early Christmas present from my kids - a new camera, since I wrecked the old one by getting beach sand in it. :o(
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Wow, that's hot! I think I'd melt. We're at a heat wave of 17 deg. F here and of course, snow. At least it's better than last week, which was averaging -12 deg. F most nights and occasionally 0 deg. F during the day.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too! :)
Hey there, Sherry! Thanks. Where on Earth are you? North Pole?
We might get the occasional frost in winter, but nothing that cold.
Hi Mariette,
Lol, it sure feels like we do! Actually we live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Almost at the border of Canada. It's usually not this cold until January/February here, at least not the below zero temperatures. Most years it's at least in the 20 to 30 deg. F around this time, and lots of snow. Not so much snow this year, yet. Probably only 12 inches, but I'm sure the rest will be on its way. :) -Sherry
OK, I see. We Aussies are lucky, for we can experience snow too, in the Snowy Mountains ski resorts in winter (June, July, August). Sometimes they have to manufacture snow because there is not enough - crazy eh?
Wow, I can't ever imagine it even...not enough snow has never been a problem here, lol. There's been some years we've had problems with not knowing where to put it all when trying to clear out the driveway....the banks are too high so the snow just slides back down into the area we just got cleared out.
I never realized that your winter is in June, July, and August. That's our summer...and probably about the only three months of the year that it's actually hot, errr...warm, well, some days anyways!