A Sub-Tropical Australian Christmas Quiz

Answer: Stonefruit and Bowen mangoes are in season

The ten largest cities in Australia are in the sub-tropics (except Canberra) although one could argue Melbourne is not either. Therefore over 70% of Australian people live in the subtropics, and in the Southern hemisphere Christmas is warm (even hot), coming as it does only three days after the summer solstice. Traditionally, the appearance of stone fruit (e.g., peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums) and Bowen mangoes in late November/ early December is when most Australians have definitive proof that Christmas is only a month or so away.

Some stonefruit appears a bit sooner now because of an extended growing season but traditionally the stonefruit season is December to February. Also you need to be careful with mangoes. Recently, the Top End of the Northern Territory began to develop a mango industry and its season is September to December. However, they are not Bowen Mangoes (named after the Queensland town from where they are grown) but Kensington Pride (formerly Pride of Bowen). Mangoes can also be imported from Indonesia, China and Malaysia but the fruit is smaller and the skin redder and tends not to sell well. People seem to wait for Christmas which is the peak selling time for the prized Bowen Mangoes.

Halloween, last day of October, has little traction in Australia.

In the US, Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving in the last week of November and signifies the start of the Christmas shopping season in the US. In Australia, Black Friday is a day which commemorates the 71 people who died in Victorian bushfires on January 13, 1939. However it is disturbing that commercial shopping brands have embraced the Black Friday concept even though there is no Thanksgiving to give it context. Bizarre!

Black Saturday is recognition of bushfires that ravaged Victoria in 2009.
Snow on the Snowy Mountains is brief. The snow which start lightly in July, is usually gone by the time the chairlifts close in October.

Answer: Commercial stores: most Australian Christmas trees are artificial

Australia has both a thriving pine tree farming industry based on imported cultivars and a large supply of native pine trees, particularly Bunya and Hoop Pines (Araucaria species), Huon Pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii), and Norfolk pine (Araucaria heterophylla), the latter of which is called the living Christmas tree. It is therefore surprising that most Christmas trees in Australia are artificial and are bought in department stores and discount houses. True, we cover them up with so much tinsel and decorations and lights you can see hardly see the tree, nevertheless they are nothing like a real pine tree. One thing all Australian trees have though, is plenty of clearance at the bottom to facilitate many presents being placed around the tree.

There is no set or preferred date to decorate your tree, and each family has its own traditions. In this author's house, because the house was filled with firstly school children then schoolteachers, we normally put up the tree on the day after school shuts down for the 6-week summer holiday period.

Answer: Carols by Candlelight

"Carols by Candlelight" started formally in 1938, when Norman Banks, a Melbourne disc jockey, was walking home from his late-night shift on Christmas eve, 1937 when he passed a woman framed by candlelight singing "Away in a Manger". She was alone. So next Christmas he organised an outdoor concert on the banks of the river where local celebrities led the singing and people sang the carols, each carrying a candle. Over ten thousand people attended.

The concept spread quickly to other Australian capital cities where the concerts are held in outdoor venues.

The events attract large numbers. Most events are televised and these programs rate highly. This concept has now spread to overseas venues, but this is one Christmas tradition that Australia can call its own.

Answer: True

In Brisbane and in several other Australian cities, radio stations hold competitions for the most outstandingly decorated house with Christmas lights. Over the years this has become big business with some households typically taking several weeks to decorate the houses. The radio station or event sponsor publishes a list of all the houses entered (sometimes entire streets enter) and then people/families use these lists to visit the decorated houses.

Bus companies organise tours to the most popular places and crowds are huge, with vehicular traffic often exceeding the capacity of smaller streets. The owners usually sit out the front of their houses answering questions and accepting compliments. The most popular themes besides Santa Claus seem to be snowmen and (fake) snow. Other than on Christmas cards, this is the only snow you will see at Christmas in Australia. In our family, it does not feel like Christmas until we have made such a trek around Brisbane one night a few days before Christmas Eve.

Answer: White Boomers

Rolf Harris's popular 1961 song, "Six White Boomers" was an enduring staple heard at shopping centres and public spaces for many years.

"Unharnessed all the reindeer and Joey wondered why,
Then he heard a far-off booming in the sky.
Six white boomers, snow white boomers,
Racing Santa Claus through the blazing sun.
Six white boomers, snow white boomers,
On his Australian run."

Kangaroos are national symbols that are representative of what makes Australia unique. They feature on our currency, our coat of arms and are immortalised though the commercial logos of Qantas and the Royal Australian Air Force.

Male kangaroos are called bucks, boomers or jacks; females are does, flyers, or jills; and the babies are joeys. Usually, a boomer is a red kangaroo (the tallest species) but there is no hard and fast rule.

Answer: False

In the sub-tropical regions of Australia it would be be rare to find a chimney on a house, although they exist in reasonable numbers in more temperate regions of Australia like regional Victoria and Tasmania. As such there is no standardised method for Santa to gain reasonable access to said households.

Lack of a standardised approach can cause parents anxiety. For example, in our household, Santa always came through the front door. This used to lead to questions such as "How will Santa get in if he does not have a key?" Answer - "We will leave the door unlocked." This leads to "Will we need to put the alarm on then, to keep away robbers who might steal our presents?" "Hmmm yes, then we might have to do that". This resulted in unique letters from our household to Santa, including such gems as details on how to lock the front door with a key placed where the presents would go. Subsequently letters had intricate details on either 1) where to hide the key afterwards or 2) how to get it back to us after his return to the North Pole.

Over the years the methods got more sophisticated including a special access code of 464646 on the burglar alarm (translates as Ho Ho Ho on a keypad). I am pleased to say Santa always managed to get the presents under the Christmas tree every year without tripping the alarm, nor were said presents ever stolen.

Answer: Seafood including prawns, fish and Moreton Bay / Balmain bugs

If the traditional English Roast meat and vegetables meal is not served, then seafood will almost inevitably be served usually in a buffet style. Prawns (known in the US as paradoxically jumbo shrimp) are most popular, as are all types of fish (usually barbecued) and treats like Moreton Bay bugs (pictured) or Balmain bugs. These 'bugs' are actually a small type of lobster about four inches long. Moreton Bay bugs (Thenus orientalis) are named after the bay Brisbane is located on, though they are found on the north eastern seaboard of Australia and coastal regions of the Indian and western Pacific Ocean where they are sometimes known as flathead lobsters. the Balmain bug (Ibacus peronii) is found around the lower western Pacific. (Balmain is a harbour-side suburb of Sydney). Known also as slipper lobsters or butterfly fan lobsters, they are slightly smaller than their northern cousins and are not as sweet-tasting.

Rock lobsters are not true lobsters - they lack claws and are neither related to lobsters nor crayfish.

Barbecues on Christmas day are also popular, usually with several types of meat and a host of salads. Ham off the bone is considered a Christmas treat.
Deserts such as Pavlova and Cheesecake are arguably more popular than the hot Christmas pudding.

Answer: Volleyball

Christmases are all about families and with sports-mad Australians, large gatherings mean some sort of team sport is organised. Backyard cricket is by far the most popular. it requires minimal equipment and talent and for those who do not have a big enough backyard, a driveway will suffice.

For those lucky enough to have a pool, volleyball is very popular. Again minimal equipment is necessary - just a soccer ball and a rope strung five feet above the middle of the pool. Emphasis on Christmas family sports is on participation. Sunglasses and sunscreen are essential but there will be always one person who forgets the sunscreen and is redder than a Moreton Bay bug on Boxing Day.

These sports can be played any time of day but the unofficial rule is that everybody is back inside by the time the Queen's Message is played on TV around 7pm (When it's starting to get dark anyway).

Answer: Boxing Day cricket test and Sydney to Hobart yacht race

Few people in Australia would understand that Boxing Day is based on the English upper class giving the servants the day off and giving them a box (gift) for their services. Indeed, in an egalitarian Australian society we would be appalled by the concept (of servants that is, not gifts).

Summer sport in Australia is almost as big as football season when three football codes play in the cooler season. In summer the big sports are cricket, soccer and basketball (both major soccer and basketball changed their season from summer to winter as it was difficult competing with three other football codes). There are three forms of cricket: Test cricket (lasts five days), One Day cricket (50 overs per team) and T20, (twenty overs per team). The Boxing Day test is the cricketing highlight of the year where Australia play different countries each year. It is always held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and it will be filled (100 000 people) if Australia plays England. T20 cricket is also played around this time (but not on Boxing Day) and the national competition consists of 8 capital city teams slugging it out for the Big Bash Title. The local side appropriately called Brisbane Heat won the second season in 2013.

No-one in Australia pays much attention to Yachting except on Boxing Day when a flotilla of yachts race down to Hobart which takes 2-5 days. If you have a boat and you live in Sydney, you are more than likely to launch your boat into the harbour to watch the spectacle. For those who do not live in Sydney, the entertainment is provided by watching these huge yachts trying to get out of Sydney harbour when there are thousands of leisure craft on the water at the same time. The Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht race is the second biggest yacht race on the Australian calendar. It is run over Easter.

As we do not live in Sydney or Melbourne, a favourite activity is setting up the TV near the pool, sitting in said pool flicking channels to watch the cricket and yachts (it required skill to change channels without getting the remote control wet); and of course, there will be an esky close at hand filled with ice and refreshing drinks (the amber coloured ones are very popular).

Answer: Dessert made with rice bubbles, icing sugar, glace cherries and dried fruit

White Christmas is a uniquely Australian dessert. (Those New Zealanders cannot claim this as their own like they did with that other great Australian desert - Pavlova). It is made from Rice Bubbles (known in the rest of the world as Rice Krispies), raisins or sultanas, glace cherries, desiccated coconut, icing sugar, and powdered milk. The dry ingredients are then mixed with Copha, an Australian trademarked product of hydrogenated coconut oil, then pressed into a pan and allowed to set in the fridge - No baking. (The Kiwis have a similar product to Copha called Kremelta but there is no known equivalent in the UK, US or Canada).

You will hear many an Australian say something like "It's not Christmas until I have had some White Christmas"

Sadly this author had to use some one else's photo for this quiz because the White Christmas was made a little earlier this year to facilitate a photo in this quiz. However the author's kids found same while the author was out and consequently there were only crumbs left (They did look a bit like snow though, or what this author thinks snow looks like).