Travel blog: Sundrenched Christmas on Coogee Beach

Richard Aylen is swapping the daily routine of an 8-5 London lifestyle for a 24-7 cross continent trip taking in Africa, south-east Asia and Australasia. From Cape Town to the Cook Islands via Chiang Mai and Christchurch, his trip will take him from the capital of the UK and deep into backpacker territory. This is his seventh blog:

Christmas is usually a time for shop windows filled with fake snow and decorations, a time for warm drinks sipped in heated rooms and a time for thick jumpers and woolen hats.

Flip the world on its axis and it is anything but.

Touching down in Sydney on December 21st, I was just in time for an Aussie Christmas and my first away from the UK – not to mention my family and friends.

Having booked into a hostel two minutes walk away from the famous Bondi Beach I was ready for my sunny Christmas to begin. There was no shortage of travellers making their way to Sydney for the festive period and during the run-up to Christmas a party atmosphere was slowly building.

Despite temperatures reaching the late twenties and no need for woolen garments, Sydney managed to generate its own unique Christmas atmosphere - quite different from a traditional British one.

Around every street corner whispers were heard discussing which beach would be best to spend the big day. Both locals and travellers were busy planning their ideal beach day - a far cry from the comfort of a log fire and a roast dinner to fight off the dreary weather in England.

Opting to avoid the cliché of Christmas on Bondi I headed to nearby Coogee Beach with a group of friends.

Friends back at home were probably preparing for a traditional roast, a church service, presents under the tree and the Queen's speech while I was packing a beach towel, sun cream and a picnic.

The bus to Coogee was packed with revellers in shorts and Santa hats with no woolen attire in sight. The green before the promenade was full of people enjoying the big day by throwing a 'snag' on the barbie and sipping down several bottles of Australia's finest beer, Tooheys.

The unmistakable smell of grilling meat filled the air and the picture on the beach was not much different. For a group of travellers looking for a different experience to take their minds away from thoughts of home and family it was the perfect tonic.

Bronzed groups of boys and girls flung Frisbees across the sand while the occasional rugby ball span threw the air as the fun and games set in.

While several party goers were beginning to be a bit worse for where by the evening the only drawback was the presence of the blue bottle jelly fish that rode the waves into the shore. As night time set in the numbers on the beach began to diminish and people moved onto their private parties.

Heading back to the hostel with several friends I was contented that Christmas had been celebrated in a unique and brilliant way, yet it didn't end there as Boxing Day proved to be just as big a reason to celebrate.

An English Boxing Day is usually reserved for seeing relatives, watching the football and eating enough turkey sandwiches to last the year. But in Sydney there were a number of different activities to distract my taste buds from the thought a succulent sarnie.

Sailing enthusiasts were compelled to head to the harbour for the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. The harbour is transformed every year as the graceful ships leave the safety of the enclosed waters for the ocean.

But I decided to take a different route and headed to Ranwick for the Boxing Day race meet.

Known as 'International Day' at the race course, the Boxing Day meet allows anyone with a non-Australian passport to get in for free. Featuring nine sprint races over the course of the afternoon, the meet was enough to draw a large crowd of both international and local race fans.

With most of the ladies in their best dresses and heals and the men in smart pressed shirts it was certainly the place to be. The bars across the grass which separates the course from the main stand were packed with customers while to the left the members casually eyed up the horses in the presentation paddock, carefully choosing their beast before the race began.

Similar to the system in England, gamblers could bet with the tote or a selection of private book makers across the course. But whether a winner was picked or not the searing temperatures and clear blue skies kept the majority in a happy mood.

Being a relative novice in horse racing all my winners were down to sheer luck. The pick being Shadow Assassin, who raced to victory form the back of the pack - just in time to secure me a cool $50 (£25) in prize money.

By the end of the day I was $100 up (after expenses) - a welcome win considering the lack of Christmas presents enjoyed this year.

So while there were no shop windows filled with fake snow to entice a Christmas customer, not a woolen item of clothing to be seen and no turkey sandwiches, at least I had $100 to spend in the January sales.

Richard Aylen