Yahoo!7 Answers Australia

If yours is anything like my family, Christmas is pretty much the same year in year out. Up early for tea and to see what’s in our stockings; the extended family arrives late morning and we all celebrate with brunch and champagne. Then into the kitchen for cooking and a sprinkling of petty family disputes over how the turkey dried out (again) and who forgot to add pumpkin to the baking tray. All arguments are forgotten when we sit down to a delicious lunch, charge our glasses and don our daggy Christmas hats. It’s a much loved tradition that is relished by all.

Once in a while this routine changes and some of us spend Christmas in a completely unique way. We asked the Answers community for the most unusual Christmas they’ve ever had…

Christmas Day, 1979, in what was then the Rhodesian bush, linking up with heavily armed `freedom fighters’ so they could move to staging camps prior to the country’s first `free and fair’ elections. The entire Christmas-New Year period was a strange mix of parties, peacekeeping, investigations, sightseeing, mine clearing and winning the confidence and trust of black and white Zimbabweans. Maybe the highlight was organising the repatriation of thousands of refugees from Botswana, Mozambique and Angola so they could return and take part in the rebuilding of their nation. I didn’t miss the Christmas pudding at home with the family, thousands of miles away; neither did my colleagues from 11 different countries. We all felt the job was too important. Pity it turned out the way it did.

– UbiqueMIB

Christmas Day Darwin 1974… Huddled in a bathroom with my 6 brothers and sisters, Mum and Dad and some neighbours while our house disintegrated around us in 250km/h winds. We didn’t get our Christmas presents that year….

- Sean K

Years ago – I had just moved to Adaminaby – small town in the Snowy Mountains – It was Xmas Eve, about 5pm. Suddenly I heard singing, we all went out the front door, and there was a small truck with the town’s business people in the back, singing Xmas carols. Then, out of the blue, it started to snow. What is amazing, is that it never snows in December in Australia (it’s summer), and I have never witnessed people in Australia driving around singing carols, as they do in other parts of the world. It was something special that I will always cherish.

– brubru

At a Christmas lunch up in the hills with family, my uncle came out and summoned us all in to the living room. There was a large adult Koala sitting there and wouldn’t move when we tried to shoo him out.

– shai m

First year I was married, we hiked the Grand Canyon on Christmas day, just the 2 of us. We saw reindeer in the canyon and a lot of wildlife. The lodge served a Christmas feast. It was quiet, romantic, and a great experience.

– cricket

Caitlin
Community Manager