Isla Gordon Laurens, France

For Isla Gordon, Christmas in France won’t be quite as busy. It’s pruning season at Domaine la Sarabande, their vineyard in the Languedoc region.

“It’s actually a lovely time of year, I enjoy Christmas in France as much as Christmas in Ireland.”

When Isla and her Australian husband Paul decided to give life as wine growers a go, Isla couldn’t comprehend living quite so far from home. “Paul and I met in New Zealand, he had trained as a winemaker and I was picking grapes during the harvest. I studied agriculture at college so wine was taking my ag qualification to a different level and we had big dreams of having our own vineyard. In France, you can rent land to grow wine and I somehow convinced him to come home with me, or as close to home as we could get and still pursue our winery aspirations.”

Their first harvest was in 2009, when Isla was pregnant with their first son Rory. Now nearly 10 years later, they also have their son Peter, and the vineyard is producing 26,000 bottles a year.

Isla Gordon, Laurens, France.

“I come home to Carlow for Christmas every second year and as our wine is on sale in O’Briens Wine and other independent off-licences, it’s lovely to share a glass with family.

“I equally enjoy our French Christmases though. Christmas isn’t as commercial over here. While the decorations start going up in October at home, here it starts in December, just like the way things used to be in Ireland. Christmas Eve is the big celebratory day in France and they might have pheasant or partridge or Capon, which is a large hen chicken. I still do the turkey dinner on Christmas Day, although I introduce a little French touch. For example, oysters are a big thing to eat here, so we start the meal off with them. To my mother’s horror, I’m not a big fan of Christmas pudding but I do love the Buche de Noel, which is a chocolate log, and that’s what I serve up for dessert.

“I have brought a little bit of Irish Christmas to France as well. A few years ago, we were having friends over and I made mince pies. They were such a hit that now I have to make them every year, but it’s lovely that they enjoy some of my Christmas traditions as well.

“It’s funny, every second year I have two very different Christmases. When I come home to Carlow, it’s madness with lots of family around and friends to visit, and then when we stay in France, it’s calm, quiet and relaxed. It’s the best of both worlds.”

Enrika Grogan Northam, western Australia

Imagine Christmas falling straight after the harvest. That’s the reality for Enrika Grogan and her husband Eamon, who live in the wheat belt in Northam, about 90km east of Perth. The Australian sun is splitting the stones, the trucks are out in force, and for Enrika it feels very far from her family home in Kilkenny.

“We own an earthmoving and haulage business, and at this time of year we cart grain and hay as a contractor. We have about 100 acres (which is a hobby farm size here as the average farm is 2,000 acres plus), which we share farm with a neighbouring farmer.

“This is our busiest time of year. Eamon could be out 17 or 18 hours a day, working flatout carting grain. Earlier today I went out on the truck with him because it’s the only way to see him.”

Spending quality time together may be an even bigger challenge this year as Enrika describes this year’s grain harvest in her locality as something close to perfect.

“For most, harvest will finish just in time for Christmas but some farmers will be going after Christmas as it’s been a bumper year. The conditions were great and there is real demand so the price for the grain is strong. Given the area is so agricultural, when the grain is doing well, the local economy also benefits, the money stays in the region. Unfortunately, for farmers in the rest of Australia, they went through a drought, so things aren’t so positive.”

With such a busy harvest, there is an extra urgency to try and finish up for Christmas so people can spend time with their families.

“Christmas here, it’s just so different to back home. I travelled to Australia in 2004 and came back to give it a real go with my now husband in 2006 and I have only had two Christmases home since then.”

Enrika Grogan with her family in a field of barley which was harvested earlier this year.

“I miss it, I miss my family, I miss going to mass on Christmas Eve and then to the local for the Christmas catch-up, I miss the lights, I even miss the cold. I mean they do the Christmas decorations and the lights here, but with long sunny days, the lights don’t shine quite as brightly,” she laughs. “It’s not as traditional. Instead, Christmas time is treated more as summer holidays. In Ireland, while people tend to go home for Christmas, in Australia, people go away. It is nice though to spend time with family and take a breather, to have time to catch up.

Time with family will be even more important this year for Enrika, Eamon and their four kids Ayla, Eli, Sadie and Devin. “My mother will be coming over from Ireland and my sister Leza and her husband Dane already live in Perth and they are making plans to move to Northam in 2019 so it really feels my family are closer. So when we are all together on 29 December, that will be my real Christmas dinner. There will be turkey and ham but it’s too hot for the roast potatoes and gravy. Instead it will be salads and seafood but that’s fine because Christmas is really about family and though some of us will still be far away, I’m really lucky to have a family that will make the big trip down under. It’s important to remember, no matter where you are for Christmas, it’s about making your own family traditions.”