Halloween in Australia
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This is our third Halloween in Australia and I think we've finally nailed down our traditions. Sort of. Here is my guide for a North American living in the land down under.
1) Save your empty milk jugs. Pumpkins here are ridiculously expensive. (The last time I checked it was like $3-4/kg. RIDICULOUS, I TELL YOU.) Plus, they make a mess which is fun to make but not to clean up AND I'm not terribly interested in dealing with ant infested pumpkins. (Because it would happen, and it would suck.) So save your milk jugs. When Halloween comes around, cut out faces with black paper, stick them on the milk jugs, fill them with water and throw some glow sticks in. These make the coolest pumpkins which are a) cheaper, b) more creative and c) do not get infested with ants within an hour.
2) Have an awesome supper. Because do we need a reason to have great meals? We had Mexican and it was to die for.
3) Have pumpkin pie. This was a first this year, and it was awesome. We had to order the canned pumpkin online (and we got Crispers!!! It's been years since I've had Crispers. (Plus the pumpkin had French on the can, which was super cool. *sigh* It's been a while.)) So we got to eat pumpkin pie, which made it really feel like October. (Plus we got whipped cream. I LOVE WHIPPED CREAM!)
4) Hand out candy to the few trick-or-treaters. Halloween isn't a really big thing here. At home you'd get tons of kids every year, and I think this year we maybe got sixty (which was an all-time high). We were talking to some friends back home and they got about fifty, which was super low because there was rain/sleet/snow. So yeah. There wasn't a whole lot of kids but there were a few.
5) Go into a food coma from supper and watch Tim Burton movies and Parks and Recreation. I've never been into the Halloween movies, but this year we watched a few Parks and Rec episodes, The Corpse Bride and most of Beetlejuice. (Is it just me or did The Corpse Bride make anyone feel claustrophobic? Beetlejuice too, but to a lesser extent. I think it was the colours and the lack of sky.)
So that was my Halloween. This was actually the first year I haven't gone trick-or-treating and it was a nice change.
We do the milk jug thing every year, but I think we should continue with the pumpkin pie and make it a new tradition. Do you have any Halloween traditions? Are there any traditions you used to do as a kid but don't anymore? Comment below, my jabberwockies!
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This is our third Halloween in Australia and I think we've finally nailed down our traditions. Sort of. Here is my guide for a North American living in the land down under.
1) Save your empty milk jugs. Pumpkins here are ridiculously expensive. (The last time I checked it was like $3-4/kg. RIDICULOUS, I TELL YOU.) Plus, they make a mess which is fun to make but not to clean up AND I'm not terribly interested in dealing with ant infested pumpkins. (Because it would happen, and it would suck.) So save your milk jugs. When Halloween comes around, cut out faces with black paper, stick them on the milk jugs, fill them with water and throw some glow sticks in. These make the coolest pumpkins which are a) cheaper, b) more creative and c) do not get infested with ants within an hour.
2) Have an awesome supper. Because do we need a reason to have great meals? We had Mexican and it was to die for.
3) Have pumpkin pie. This was a first this year, and it was awesome. We had to order the canned pumpkin online (and we got Crispers!!! It's been years since I've had Crispers. (Plus the pumpkin had French on the can, which was super cool. *sigh* It's been a while.)) So we got to eat pumpkin pie, which made it really feel like October. (Plus we got whipped cream. I LOVE WHIPPED CREAM!)
4) Hand out candy to the few trick-or-treaters. Halloween isn't a really big thing here. At home you'd get tons of kids every year, and I think this year we maybe got sixty (which was an all-time high). We were talking to some friends back home and they got about fifty, which was super low because there was rain/sleet/snow. So yeah. There wasn't a whole lot of kids but there were a few.
5) Go into a food coma from supper and watch Tim Burton movies and Parks and Recreation. I've never been into the Halloween movies, but this year we watched a few Parks and Rec episodes, The Corpse Bride and most of Beetlejuice. (Is it just me or did The Corpse Bride make anyone feel claustrophobic? Beetlejuice too, but to a lesser extent. I think it was the colours and the lack of sky.)
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So that was my Halloween. This was actually the first year I haven't gone trick-or-treating and it was a nice change.
We do the milk jug thing every year, but I think we should continue with the pumpkin pie and make it a new tradition. Do you have any Halloween traditions? Are there any traditions you used to do as a kid but don't anymore? Comment below, my jabberwockies!
In my hometown, they have casket races where a bunch of people soup up golf carts, riding lawnmowers, and other things to look like caskets. Then they race down the street right by my house. I miss seeing those; they were pretty awesome. And since they weren't on Halloween, my mom would make a big batch of chili and we'd sit outside and watch. Then my parents would typically have some people over to play Euchre.
ReplyDeleteOn Halloween, we'd give out candy (I love seeing all the little kids in costume!) and watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", which is still my favorite Halloween movie. I miss that, too. Oh, we also carve jack-o-lanterns (which I was super happy that I got to do this year). But I had a good time watching some sci-fi movies in costume with a friend this year.
The milk jug idea is really creative! Nifty.
Oh, wow, that sounds like so much fun!!! Your Halloween traditions sound like a lot of fun, especially those races. And aren't little kids in costumes so sweet?
ReplyDeleteWow. The milk jug idea is really cool! We celebrate Halloween by buying candy, turning off all the lights, pretending we're not home, and then eating all the candy by ourselves. =) Our neighborhood doesn't get a lot of trick-or-treaters (we don't have sidewalks).
ReplyDeleteJust liked your Facebook page! I joined a few months ago and still don't know what I'm doing, so welcome to the confusing land of blue. =)
Hahaha :) that's one way to do it. It sounds like a lot of fun! Thanks :) I have no clue what I'm doing, so we can wade into this thing together. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteI love the milk just idea! I'm definitely going to pass that on to my family. :)
ReplyDeleteThere aren't that many kids in my neighborhood so we only got about 15 trick-or-treaters I think, but there are also school events like Trick or Treat Street which I think is becoming more popular just to make sure that kids don't accidentally get something poisonous or anything in their treats.
Also, I wish I watched Tim Burton movies... I just watched Mulan instead.
Thank you!
DeleteOooh, that sounds like a great idea. It sucks that kids have to watch out for that kind of stuff :/ (And Mulan sounds great, but I suppose if it's not your thing than it's not your thing.)
That milk jug idea is the best ever. I much prefer it over using pumpkins, even in America where they're cheaper and less likely to be infested by creepy crawlies because it seems like a waste to use a pumpkin like that. And although I've never celebrated Halloween before, I really did like this post because it reminded me of staying in Africa and the times when I was so excited to get nice imported food, like you were excited to get the canned pumpkin. :D
ReplyDeleteThanks :) Yeah, they're waaay cheaper in North America. Plus you get points for creativity.
DeleteIsn't imported food the best? I nearly die every time someone send Cheerios over. Cheesies are used as bargaining chips in our house, I kid you not.