Christmas in Australia

For our sixth year living on the boat, we’re spending the holidays in another new place. It’s always fun to see how people celebrate holidays in other countries. This year, we’re spending Christmas in Australia, enjoying another warm holiday.

Stores stocked their shelves with Christmas products well before November. By month’s end, towns and shops followed with their trees and decorations. Here’s a brief description of some of the sights and traditions of Christmas in Australia.

Australian Christmas Traditions

Christmas in Australia is similar to North America with some tweaks. The kids wait for Santa, people decorate Christmas trees and sing carols. Australians also have their own Christmas traditions.

As it’s the heat of summer here in December, meals are more relaxed. Barbecues are more popular than roasts, for example, and a lot of people spend Christmas and Boxing Day at the beach. We’ll spend Christmas with friends and be on our boat for Boxing Day, watching the start of the Sydney to Hobart Boat Race.

The pubs and clubs fill up every weekend starting mid November with Christmas parties. Friends groups, coworkers, and even gyms host holiday parties, with many wearing Christmas themed hats and shirts. It’s too hot for Christmas sweaters here!

Calls to Santa

You may be surprised to learn that cities and towns in Queensland and New South Wales still have phone booths. Generally used as free wifi zones, they develop another, equally important use before the holidays. It’s where people can call Santa for free! What a fun tradition for Christmas in Australia.

Mall Decorations

A big part of the season is retail, so of course, the malls in Australia put up their decorations as early as they could. Here’s a sampling of some of the decorations we saw.

So many Christmas trees!

One of Sydney’s most beautiful malls is in the Queen Victoria Building, formerly the Sydney market, a building restored to its 1880s origins. The QVB is an architectural landmark as well as housing shops and restaurants. It also features lovely antique clocks and stained glass features, plus a giant Christmas tree.

The QVB Christmas tree rises up all four floors of the building, and it is beautifully decorated. We will try to get back for the immersive light and music show that runs 5x daily.

Christmas in Australia: Sydney

From the moment we arrived in Sydney, we knew it was a great place to spend the holidays. While Auckland had fun decorations, Sydney is a much bigger city and Sydneysiders go all out for Christmas. Every park and square, every mall and store, is decorated for the holidays, creating a very festive feel for Christmas in summertime.

Sydney is bustling with Christmas celebrations. No matter how you like to celebrate Christmas in Australia, you can do it in Sydney. They have multiple Christmas markets, carolling concerts, photos with Santa, and countless other festive activities around town the whole month of December.

Here are some Sydney Christmas highlights. I’ve also included a map of these holiday highlights for when you visit Sydney.

christmas buses

Our first weekend in Sydney, I spotted a city bus decked out for Christmas. It turns out, this is a Sydney tradition to raise money for charity. There’s an online tool to search for a Christmas bus to ride. I’m still hoping to ride one and see how the insides are decorated.

Darling Harbor

Darling Harbor and the Darling Quarter, west of the Sydney CBD, are home to some beautiful Christmas decorations. Like these living Christmas boxes, composed of vertical garden boxes full of verdant greenery. They’re stunning!

Darling Harbor is also home to the floating Christmas tree, which is beautiful day or night.

Nighttime is obviously the best time for the Christmas tree lights and more, including in Darling Harbor. Every Saturday they put on a free fireworks show. It’s pretty spectacular from the bridge or the shore to watch the fireworks, another fun part of Christmas in Australia, and it’s getting us excited for New Year’s Eve.

david jones department store

David Jones is a department store with annual Christmas window displays. Located in the Sydney’s equivalent of 5th Avenue, on Castlereagh Street, it’s easily accessible. This year’s theme is perfect for Christmas in Australia, A Wombat Christmas. An Aussie takeoff of The Night Before Christmas, it’s targeted to children and very cute.

martin place

Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the heart of Sydney, and home to THE Sydney Christmas tree. Sydney has loads of Christmas trees, but this one is the biggest Christmas tree in New South Wales. Plus, you can go see the light and sound show every night from 8PM to 12M. It’s impressive in daylight too.

With a Christmas market from Thursday to Saturday, and visits with Santa, Martin Place is a must visit in Sydney for Christmas.

Martin Place is free to visit, but Santa costs money, and you have to book in advance.

st. mary’s cathedral

The main Catholic Church in Sydney hosts a 14 day Christmas at the Cathedral festival outside. With nightly performances and a lighting of the Christmas tree, it’s very festive.

Inside, the Gothic Revival style cathedral is impressive with lots of stained glass and vaulted ceilings. And for Christmas, it’s full of lit Christmas trees and ready for services.

the rocks

A historic downtown neighborhood, The Rocks hosts markets and is well decorated for Christmas. We visited as part of a walking tour, and spotted their Christmas village decorations.

Happy holidays from us

Hope you enjoyed reading about Christmas in Australia and have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones. Let us know how you’re celebrating in the comments. Happy Holidays from The Go crew!