A Very Aussie Christmas

Christmas for me is usually a time for sharing and giving especially with family members. Unfortunately, since my husband and I moved to South Australia a few years ago, we did not have any family to share our Christmas celebrations with. Whenever Christmas approaches, we would often start to miss our family back in Malaysia and would wonder what they are doing during this festive season.

Although we do miss our family back home during Christmas time, we have to be thankful because since we arrived in South Australia, we never celebrated Christmas alone.

I was amazed by the amount of hospitality shown by our local Aussie friends who always made sure we had somewhere to go to during Christmas. When Christmas is near, we would always get invitations to our Aussie friends’ family reunion dinners/lunches so that we do not feel left out during this important occasion.

Spending Christmas reunion dinners/lunches with local Australians are a good experience because it helps us to understand more about the local food and culture.

A typical Australian reunion dinner/lunch will usually comprise of cold meats such as hams or roast turkey slices, dips and crackers, mixed nuts and nibbles as well as a large range of cold salads. As it is summer time in Australia in December, it is pretty obvious that most Aussie families would prefer to have cold meals for their reunions. However, there are no fast and fixed rules when it comes to dessert preferences. A traditional dessert would usually be a deliciously rich Christmas pudding served with a dollop of custard. However, not everybody would stick to having Christmas puddings for Christmas.

Here are photos of some of the food we ate during our Christmas reunion dinners/lunches with our Aussie friends in 2013:

Lovely Christmas decorations at the dining table

A typical Australian Christmas reunion meal

A slice of traditional Christmas pudding and ice-cream

What was your Christmas celebration like in 2013? Was it an enjoyable experience? I hope it was.

Cheers,

Caroline Poh

Barmera Main Street Comes to Life at Christmas Pageant 2013

The usually quiet Barmera Main Street suddenly came to life during the Barmera Christmas Pageant 2013 held on 13 December 2013 at Barmera, Riverland, South Australia. 

The lively event attracted many visitors from around the Riverland region and also from elsewhere to spectate the array of fun-filled activities that were specially organised to bring out a high-spirited Christmas mode amongst them. 

At the start of the pageant, vintage car enthusiasts were enthralled as owners of stylish-looking vintage cars drove along the Barmera Main Street to showcase their prized possessions. 

The vintage car procession was followed by a beautiful float parade. During the parade, members from the local community, churches, schools, clubs, associations and businesses proudly paraded their floats as they moved merrily along the streets of Barmera town. Children gathered around them to receive a generous share of lollies from the float parade participants to fulfill their Christmas wishes. 

The adults and senior citizens were not left out. Some went home happily with some free pot plants to complete their gardens. Some had a good time catching up with their family and friends while grabbing a quick bite from some of the street stalls. 

The pinnacle of the event was its magical kaleidoscope of fireworks. Visitors were captivated while watching the spectacular fireworks displays which were displayed overlooking beautiful Lake Bonney. To enhance the magical moment, the animated fireworks were displayed together with melodious songs to accompany them. 

I was particularly impressed by this year’s float parade and unique firework displays. I especially loved watching the firework displays this year as it had a unique twist to it when the fireworks suddenly turned into a shape of a waterfall halfway during the show. 

Barmera Christmas Pageant 2013 Vintage Car Show

Barmera Christmas Pageant 2013 Float Parade

Santa Claus and his new pet dog at the pageant

The mesmerising fireworks displays managed to conclude my night with complete bliss. It was truly a memorable experience attending such an enjoyable event like this. 

I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate all those who have helped to make the Barmera Christmas Pageant 2013 a success. Good job to all of you! You made my day. 

Cheers,

Caroline Poh

Life in the Riverland, South Australia

When our friends from Adelaide first found out that we were relocating to the Riverland, South Australia, their immediate response were, “Riverland? Where is that?” 

We would then have to patiently explain to them that the Riverland is a region in country South Australia and that it is a place well-known for its charming wineries and abundance of fresh fruits. In fact, Riverland is also known as South Australia’s fruit bowl. Once you’ve eaten Riverland fruits, you won’t want to eat fruits from elsewhere. They are absolutely delicious! 

I would have to admit that my first journey to the Riverland was a rather daunting experience. When we first considered moving to the Riverland, my husband and I took a bus from Adelaide to the Riverland to have a look at the place. 

Being a fairly new migrant at that time, I feared moving to the country town because I have heard so many stories from our local friends in Adelaide about the horrors of living in a country town in rural South Australia. 

The stories I heard varied – from having hardly any neighbours, just one or two shops in the entire town to living in the outback (ie. desertland) with no grass and trees in sight. They even told us that we will not have any friends in the country town and that we will be very lonely once we get there. 

While sitting in the bus on my way to the Riverland, we passed by a lot of dry and opened empty land with hardly any trees around. There were also hardly any cars on the road at that time. At that instance, I thought that maybe what my Adelaide friends had told me about the country town were all true. Fear crept into my mind. 

However, when I arrived at the Riverland, everything changed. I found the Riverland a very pleasant place to be with good weather conditions, friendly people and plenty of green pastures and fruit trees. The towns located in the Riverland region have really serene views as they are mostly set upon the magnificent Murray River. 

After living in the Riverland, South Australia for almost two years, I can confidently say that there are plenty of things to do in the Riverland and that Riverland is not a bad place to live in after all. Our friends from the Riverland introduced us to so many local favourite activities like fishing, boating, barbecuing by the riverside, jet skiing and having huge bonfires at the end of their farming harvest. My husband and I experienced walking through beautiful vineyards, fruit orchards, wild bird sanctuaries and managed to dine the local country cuisine prepared at bonfire events. We also had the opportunity to mingle with farmers and harvesters, and learnt about what country life is really all about. 

If I had not moved to the Riverland, I would not have experienced all these enriching things. Living in a country town can be fun if you learn to tap into the beauty of it. The tranquillity of unspoilt mother nature, laid-back lifestyle and the healthy lifestyle of eating fresh fruits and vegetables are the things that the city folks have really been missing when it comes to living in the country town. I learnt through my experience in the Riverland that there is more to life than shopping malls, huge carnival events, restaurants and movie tickets. I also learnt how to appreciate the hard work that farmers and harvesters have to endure just to produce the fruits and vegetables that we see readily available at our local grocers and supermarkets. 

As we are planning to move out of the Riverland next year to pursue our careers to the next level, my head feels heavy to leave this lovely region. There has been so many things that I learnt from our friends here and memories for us to keep. I will never forget the delicious taste of the fresh fruits straight off the fruit trees, wonderful adventures we experienced through participating in favourite local outdoor activities and valuable friendships we have gained along the way. I will always remember the Riverland, South Australia wherever I go. 

Here are some of the activities we did in the Riverland: 

Barbecuing along Murray River, Riverland, South Australia

Jet skiing at Lake Bonney, Barmera, South Australia

Fishing at Kingston on Murray, Riverland, South Australia

Riverland is a really nice place to visit and unwind. I would encourage you to visit the Riverland, South Australia to discover the beauty that this region has to offer. Your trip will not be wasted! 

Cheers,

Caroline Poh