I don't believe this. It's Christmas Day and I'm sitting in my Melbourne back yard under the midday glare of a 31 ˚C sky, peeling a char-grilled prawn and drinking a glass of gorgeous old Riesling. And I suddenly realise I'm living out two Aussie Christmas clichés: the infamous Australian tourism ad from the 1980s with Paul Hogan promising to 'slip an extra shrimp on the barbie', and Australian comedian Tim Minchin's recent sentimental Christmas song, 'Drinking white wine in the sun'.
Then again, I shouldn't be surprised at all. So many of the clichés associated with Australia turn out...