How to Summer in Victoria

A fact that every person is aware of is that Australia can be a scalding, hot environment when summer comes around. The lakes dry up,the pools are filled, and people hop from building to building to evade the intense heat. Summer is also, to one’s surprise, Australia’s festive season, resulting in the unfortunate plastering of Santa dressed in swimming trunks and sunglasses everywhere you look. Most wish to spend Christmas in a colder climate, perhaps somewhere with snowfall, cosy indoor fireplace anda warm cup of hot chocolate. And sure, a traditional, frosty Christmas does sound appealing. But after thirteen years of spending the December holidays the Aussie way, and after you finish this article, I’d say you’ve got your next Christmas holiday sorted.

In Melbourne, summer occupies the entirety of December and January before all students, now basically made out of gingerbread and candy-canes, must begrudgingly return to their abandoned academics. Sixty-two days of staggering heat, it seems alluring, but not for long. If you’re able to get over this dauntingly hightemperature, the activities occurring in the city and surrounding areas immediately seem more enticing. In the Melbourne CBD, the streets and stores are adorned with vast amounts of lights, sizable wreaths, mammoth-sized baubles, and fake snow. Melbourne’s nightlife during the festive season is especially jolly, with one of the hotspots to socialise with friends and family being the Queen Victoria Night Market. Here, across sixteen weeks, more than one-hundred stalls and shops illuminate the market grounds as delicious scents waft through the air, attracting people from all over the city. Inside the market, varied experiences await you, from the culinary goodness of That’s Amore Cheese Nepal Dining Room, hearty portions of pavlova (an Aussie classic), and Hoy Pinoy to the handmade, locally-sourced skinware products, jewellery, homeware, and art.