What Summer in Australia Has Always Meant to Me

Summer in Australia means different things to different people.

For many, it is holidays, beaches, and ice cream.

For me, it has always been a little different.

The months of December to February have marked chapters of my life, not just a season. Each place I have lived has shaped what summer looked like, how it felt, and what it asked of me.

Growing Up in the Victorian Mallee

Growing up in the Victorian Mallee, early summer was tied to grain harvest and the end of school. The town would come alive with movement. Grain trucks lined up at the sample stand while we took our thirty minute bus ride to school.

School days were hot and slow, but they carried a sense of winding down. On the really hot days, we escaped to the library. Friday sports days meant one thing to me, the dreaded morning run up Ticklebelly Hill.

I hated it. Truly hated it.

Family holidays were simple. Usually a couple of weeks up the river with grandparents and cousins. Dusty days, brown water, and plenty of time together.

By mid primary school, we started travelling to South Australia. We would be pulled out of school early, homework packed, and head off to places like Victor Harbor, Hindmarsh Island, Kangaroo Island, or Robe.

We visited all the big things. The Big Lobster. The Big Rocking Chair.
We collected cans along the highway throughout the year so we would have spending money for ice creams and souvenirs.

When you grow up where it is hot, dry, dusty, and brown, where rivers are fast flowing and dangerous, seeing blue water and white sand feels like magic. And if you have ever been to Victor Harbor, you know you have arrived before you even see it. You smell the air.

From the Mallee to the Red Centre

That Mallee girl eventually finished school, got a degree, and moved to the middle of Australia, the Red Centre. Close to every beach in the country, but far from all of them at the same time.

Summer in Central Australia is not gentle. It is hot one day and hotter the next.

But the heat never bothered me much. Growing up in the Mallee prepares you for that. As long as you have good air conditioning, you manage. And if you have a swampy, leave a window open, but never when you leave the house. Turn it all off and lock everything up tight.

Living in a transient place like Alice Springs, December is busy. Schools wind down, Christmas parties are everywhere, and businesses are ready for a break.

Christmas usually fell into one of three options.
You celebrated with family.
You joined an orphans Christmas with friends.
Or you went home, back interstate.

We did all three over the years, and every version was good in its own way.

January in Alice Springs is quiet. Almost a ghost town. With long school holidays, many families head south to escape the heat. February is when life starts again.

Summer With Your Own Kids

Summer shifts again when you have children.

You try to recreate parts of your own childhood for them. Cricket. Tennis. Beach days. Simple traditions. But it looks different when one parent works.

There is a strange assumption kids make when one parent works in a school system. That everyone gets six weeks off over summer. I spent years explaining why I still had to go to work when other families were on holidays.

Now that we are back in the Mallee, our family holiday happens in winter instead. We escape the cold rather than the heat.

Summer Now, With Teenagers

So what does summer look like now, with two teenagers?

December is about the school calendar winding down, Christmas shopping, Christmas Day itself, and usually a quiet New Year.

January is about staying cool when the heat hits. Time at home while I work. Maybe a day trip to Melbourne for a sporting event. A practical day of buying back to school shoes and uniforms.

Australia Day is simple. A backyard barbecue. Pavlova. A game of backyard cricket.

February signals routine. School returns. School photos in week two. Then the summer sports carnivals begin, starting with swimming.

Summer used to just mean heat. Now it brings everything. Heatwaves, storms, unpredictability.

But at its core, it still means the same thing to me.

A sense of place.
A rhythm shaped by where you live.
And a reminder that seasons do not have to look the same to be meaningful.

A Quiet Summer Note

This time of year naturally influences what I make and what I use.

On the Buttons side, I gravitate toward lighter, beachy colours that suit easy summer outfits.

On the beauty side, it’s about keeping things practical. Heat proof makeup. Sun smart skincare. Products that work with the season, not against it.

Summer in Australia does not need to be explained or defended.
It simply is.

And for me, it has always been a story of land, movement, family, and finding your place, wherever you are at the time.