AUSTRALIA: Australians take to the beach for a sunny Christmas while firefighters continue their work despite the festive season

Australians spent Christmas on the beach on Monday (December 25), surfing and having fun in the sun. Bikini clad backpackers flocked to Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach wearing santa hats in the festive spirit. Some even brought their own christmas trees. Backpacker Matthew Chadwick said he enjoyed the sunny christmas, unlike his traditional christmas in his England home. "Yeah it's amazing, one of the most amazing Christmases ever actually. It's sunny and I'm from England so it's sunny, and sunny is always awesome," he said. Surfers also donned the santa hats, skilfully keeping them intact despite the strong surf. Beachgoers managed to have a good time, despite the zero tolerance bans on alcohol at the beach for the day. Lifeguards took a break from patrol to enjoy a game of beach cricket, even becoming acrobatic when diving for high shots in the sand. In a long-held tradition, the members of the Clovelly Beach Lifesaving Club held an egg-collecting competition in the bay. After dyeing the water bright green with non-toxic food dye, eggs were thrown into the water. As the call was given for the race to begin, the children raced in the water to collect their eggs, which at the end of the race were exchanged for Christmas puddings which proved to be a well-earned tasty treats. Meanwhile after a well-earned year of fighting fires, fire-fighters in Sydney prepared a homely Christmas lunch on Monday. They cooked the Christmas turkey, set the table, and put Christmas carols on the music player. But as it comes with the job, the fire-fighters were called away from their lunch at the last minute to go out on a job. The siren sounded, and they rushed into the truck to go and help others, but not forgetting the Christmas spirit with a brightly decorated truck. A fire-fighter said their colleagues had to make sacrifices like missing Christmas lunch, for their profession. "I suppose the boys here do have to make a bit of a sacrifice, the ones with family and everything, they try and do the santa thing early in the morning but once we get here we're all good friends, we have a christmas lunch and have a good time here," he said. Australia faces extreme fire danger this summer due to a drought. Bushfires are a regular feature of the summer and over the past 40 years, they have killed more than 250 people. Scientists fear climate change will bring more frequent higher temperatures and less rainfall. To mark Christmas Australians also held a large rowing race in Sydney harbour, racing past the famous Sydney Opera House and finishing under the harbour bridge.

ITN Source | December 25, 2006

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