As the mercury drops to its lowest in Australia, the magic of Christmas comes — six months early! So where’s the best place to have Christmas in July?
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Christmas in July is a fun, popular pastime for Australia. Our real Christmas is a much hotter, less conventional affair, swapping silly sweaters for shorts and suncream, and the full roast and trimmings for salads and seafood.
So we make up for it by having two Christmases, and the effort some go to in July is truly impressive.
But where can you go for the best mid-year Christmas?
Christmas in July in Orange, NSW
Obviously, for a proper Christmas experience, you want to be somewhere cold, but on the other hand, you don’t want it to be too cold either.
That’s why Orange in NSW is such a great option.
Its high altitude and distance from the sea (Orange sits at around 860m above sea level and is about four hours from Sydney) means Orange gets snow in July, but not too much. Perfect!
Christmas in the Oriana Motel’s Peacock Room restaurant
We’re in Orange for the Oriana’s Christmas in July. This cool, retro motel is owned by the excellent Espen Harbitz. He’s from Norway originally and brings all of his childhood experiences of Christmas to this July experience in one of Orange’s best restaurants.
You can read our full review of the Oriana Motel here.
First, we gather in the garden amid crackling fire pits the staff have set up, and enjoy glasses of Norwegian glogg. This is something like mulled wine but not as sweet, and supercharged with brandy.
We sit by the fire and chat with the other party-goers for a while until we’re called in for dinner.
Inside, we make our way to the Peacock Room, where the restaurant has been transformed. Tables are laden with Christmas decorations, there’s a huge tree in the middle of the room sagging under the weight of lights, tinsel and tasteful baubles.
Everyone gets a fun Christmas hat and a cracker to pull, and the atmosphere is joyous and happy — and not just because of an abundance of glogg!
Christmas Dinner at the Oriana
As is Espen’s way, wine is the priority as we sit down, then plenty of chewy bread and butter to keep us company.
Dinner is served swiftly and efficiently, and what a dinner it is. A feast of juicy turkey, rich roast duck, porchetta with crunchy crackling, sumptuous stuffing, creamy mash, and fresh sprouts and red cabbage.
Not to mention the richest, thickest, tastiest gravy you’ll have.
All the things I miss about a cold Christmas.
With the main course over, we wonder what’s next. The answer: Christmas pudding. Of course it’s Christmas pudding. A dense, rich, dark ball of flavour, accompanied by ramekins of warm custard, whipped cream, and rum and raisin ice cream.
But the final flourish is yet to come.
Soon, Espen is standing next to us with a jug of OP rum and a lighter. He pours the rum over the pudding and sets it afire. Everyone loves a bit of food theatre — especially when it tastes this good!
We leave feeling full and wholly satisfied, just as Christmas should be.
Double Down on Norwegian Winter Vibes
If you want to really go full Scando, Espen has installed a proper Nordic style sauna next to the Oriana’s pool.
Motel guests can use the sauna anytime and all through the year, but in the middle of winter, you can work up a sweat (we got the sauna up over 60°C) then leap into the unheated horrors of the pool for an invigorating cold plunge.
We didn’t see the need to do this last bit as the air temperature was around zero degrees anyway.
Plus Espen had already started pouring the glogg!
The Oriana’s Christmas in July feasts happen every Friday and Saturday night throughout July, but reserve your table quick as this books out fast.
