From the beach to the bush, Australians have flocked to beaches, parks and paddocks to celebrate Christmas Day.
The festive spirit had an outback twist in western Queensland with Santa on horseback and competitions for the best Christmas mailbox.
Georgia Whip created a hay-based display with some friends on Leander station north-west of Longreach this year for a “bit of fun”.
Ballygar Station in Aramac, north-east of Longreach, won this year’s Barcaldine Regional Council rural Christmas mailbox completion. (Supplied: Ballygar Station)
With temperatures there tipped to reach the mid-40s later this week, Ms Whip said she’ll be dipping in a nearby dam on Christmas Day to keep cool.
“I picked up some lick troughs for our cattle to put the lick in, and I was thinking they actually look quite nice to sit in if we filled them with water,” she said.
“We’ll be having classic crunchy noodle salad, not like a big hot roast and veggies because I think it’s just too hot for that.”
But hard work must go on, even on Christmas Day.
“It doesn’t stop for holidays, we’ve still got poddies [calves] to feed,” Ms Whip said.
A hay-bale Santa at Leander station north-west of Longreach. (Supplied: Casey Owens)
Just south of Townsville, wildlife at Billabong Sanctuary were gifted enrichment presents.
“We’ve got a special meat package for Simpson, our big perentie, he’s one of the largest species of goanna in Australia,” Ranger Jeyn Laundrie said.
Simpson the goanna with his Christmas gift. (Supplied)
“For the koalas we have some stockings with their favourite types of eucalyptus leaves, so there are some swampy gum leaves in there.”
While the animals won’t have visitors on Christmas Day the rangers still come in to feed them and maintain the park before diving into Christmas lunch themselves.
Graham Burt spent his Christmas morning volunteering at the beach. (ABC News: Alexandria Utting)
On the Gold Coast, Graham Burt, who moved from Sydney last year, was on patrol at Mermaid Beach as locals and holiday-makers hit the waves.
He said everyone was thanking the Surf Lifesaving Volunteers for being out on Christmas Day and he would clock off in time for his family lunch.
“Where else would you want to be on Christmas morning? There’s lots of people walking up and down the beach and they’re very well behaved in the water,” he said.
Festive lunch for those doing it tough
In Adelaide, volunteers ran a Christmas event for people experiencing homelessness.
The Hutt St Centre in the CBD hosted more than 200 people for a two-course festive lunch, hand-wrapped gifts and activities for those doing it tough.
“It’s a hard day for [people experiencing homelessness] because it highlights their loneliness and isolation,” Hutt St Centre CEO Chris Burns said.
Wendy Purcell (centre) said she was having a wonderful time at the Hutt St Centre’s Christmas event in Adelaide. (ABC News: Nethma Dandeniya)
Wendy Purcell said it was her third Christmas at the centre.
“If I didn’t come here I wouldn’t eat breakfast or lunch,” she said.
“We all bond together because we’ve all been in the same situation.”
Families gathered at Tusmore Park in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs for picnic lunches and a dip in the public pool. (ABC News: Nethma Dandeniya)
Meanwhile, many families set up picnics in patches of shade, including at Tusmore Park in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs, where children were also enjoying a splash in the local wading pool.
