Bush Christmas

Traditions are an integral part of Christmas but over the past few years, our family have started a new tradition which is doing away with the fanfare and taking our tents, swags and camper trailers out bush.

 Christmas is a busy part of the year and camping requires that little more organisation but it forces you to get the presents organised a little earlier and do the integral supermarket shop and once we set up camp, the stress just fades away.

 Our families are all campers, I grew up going on tenting holidays and I married into a big outdoors family so for all of us, a camping trip is an ideal way to spend Christmas together. Christmas trees complete with tinsel and solar lights sit proudly out the front of the kid’s tents and Santa can always find his way to the stockings which sit under the tarp strung between the trees.

 We may not have the traditional roast but entrees, mains and delicious desserts adorn the table thanks to a well-planned menu divided between families. I love that we can leave the Christmas rush behind and actually spend time together with our families and relax in the bush.

As we live in Perth, it is a nice change to get back to the Victorian hills and spend time at picturesque Buffalo River. The river provides the base for most activities, canoeing, swimming, jumping off rocks into deep pools, fishing and skimming stones. Not only do the kids and parents leap off the big granite boulders, the adventurous grandparents are not to be left out and join in on the action. Camping together gives the cousins time to connect again as living on opposite sides of the country means they only get to see each other a couple of times a year.

 I am grateful for our family of campers with all of us being able to spend time together rather than splitting Christmas day between relatives. My parents, parents-in-law and our extended family all come with their caravans, campers and tents where we spend a week together at Christmas.

 So here’s to more relaxed bush Christmas’s and new traditions for us to enjoy for years to come.