10 Things That Make Aussie Christmases Unique

When your whole family is together, it's not enough to stuff yourselves with mental amounts of food. You are also required to go out in the blazing heat and play cricket to celebrate the fact that Santa arrived while you were thinking about having a nap.

Santa's a tough bugger. He originates from the North Pole, and visits well behaved Aussies in his full gear. He also has a tendency to spend lots of time in shopping centres under a big air conditioner.

It's a long drive, and the weather's pretty hot, so instead of giving Santa a glass of milk, we figure he needs a beer. So, the reindeer get the carrots, and Santa gets a drink.

Australia is a massive country. Literally, massive. It's not a big deal for people to drive huge distances at Christmas to visit family, because flying just isn't an option.

Yes, we know it's hot. Yes, we know our Christmas is never white and snowy. Yes, we know it's silly. And we do it anyway. Christmas decorations feature deer, snowflakes, and anything else that we imported from Europe over 200 years ago. Let's be honest, it's pretty rare in Australia that winter is cold enough to create snow.

We go hard on Christmas Day, but we go just as hard on Boxing Day. The reason? Boxing Day is still Christmas. In fact, we may as well call it Christmas Day #2: The day when you do Christmas all over again with the parts of the family that couldn't be together. Oh, and did we mention that, probably, you'll have to drive at least 2 hours to get there?

Christmas in Australia is usually hot as anything. Passing out in the fridge might actually be a good idea after filling your belly with huge amounts of food (and beer).

Might seem weird, but we're a weird mob. It's boiling hot outside, and we turn the oven on and cook a roast, and pudding - then eat three courses of winter food - before calling it a day. This is one tradition that persists, even though it is changing. (Slowly.)

Prawns are always on the menu at Christmas. They might just be in shells, they might be in salads, but they're always there. Seafood is slowly sneaking into the Christmas menu as we let go of the roast tradition.

As much as we know it's hot, we are all about the Slip, Slop, Slap, you always end up burnt. It's just a thing, and we all accept it. Maybe it's the cricket game after lunch, or the too-many-beers.