What Christmas means to me: four of our favourite Australians reveal what makes the season meaningful for them
A house full of carollers, a rescue pet, second helpings of pudding and the sight of 125,000 candles aglow ... four of our favourite Australians reveal what makes Christmas time especially meaningful to them.
Natarsha Belling A very country Christmas
The annual Christmas road trip signals the start of the festive season for Network Ten news presenter Natarsha Belling, her husband Glen and their boys, Harrison and Hugo. The minute their car wheels crunch onto her parents’ driveway at Mudgee, NSW, the traditional country celebrations begin. The highlight, Natarsha says, has always been Christmas morning, “and having children, you get to experience it again through the eyes of the child. Often we get home from Christmas Eve Mass and try to convince Dad to let us open just one present, but he has a hard and fast rule that we’re never allowed to open presents until Christmas Day.”
The festivities usually involve a hot meal, “which is exhausting in a part of the country where it’s often 36°C at Christmas,” Natarsha says, “but Mum and Dad are great cooks. The other thing I love is second servings – it’s almost un-Australian not to have second, third and fourth servings on Christmas Day.”
Finally, once the pudding is served and the presents unwrapped, Natarsha says that Christmas is also “a time to reflect on the year that’s passed and to be thankful for the most important things in life. I’m conscious that, for many people, Christmas is a difficult time, especially if they’ve lost a loved one. I think it’s important, at Christmas, to be thankful if you still have your loved ones with you and to treasure the time you have with them.”