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For years now, Lucy Michalakellis and her family have been opting out of a traditional Christmas.
Last year, they travelled 1300 kilometres from their suburban Brisbane home to spend Christmas house-sitting a cattle station in Cameron Corner, in remote outback Queensland.
It was so peaceful, they are back – and this time, they’ll stay for an entire year.
Lucy Michalakellis, with husband Dimitri and daughters Pip and Josie in Cameron Corner.
This Christmas morning, Lucy will wake to the calls of three hungry calves, an active little runner duck, and two mother hens with 16 chicks between them.
Lucy prefers Christmas this way – a world away from heaving shopping centres, gridlocked car parks and the stress of back-to-back social commitments and family gatherings.
Before her daughters wake and the heat of the day sets in, she will take the dogs for a walk to the dam.
Once all the animals are fed, “the only sound is the wind and some wild birds”.
“It’s just simplified here, and that’s what I love about it,” she said.
Lucy Michalakellis took this photo in Cameron Corner just as she was doubting whether she had made the right decision to leave Brisbane this Christmas.Credit: Lucy Michalakellis
“Life will look very different for us for this next year, which is both really exciting and a little daunting.”
Lucy, husband Dimitri and their daughters, seven-year-old Pip and four-year-old Josie, arrived at their new home, with only their most treasured possessions, three weeks ago.
“We’ve moved here for a year to experience station life and see what it could offer us for our future lifestyle,” she said.
The family will live in the ringers’ quarters – basic but comfortable accommodation usually reserved for travelling workers who help during mustering seasons.
The cattle station in Cameron Corner sits on 200,000 hectares of red dirt, where the borders of Queensland, NSW and South Australia meet, deep in the Australian outback.
“It is not just another beautiful place in the world – for us, it’s the people here,” Lucy said.
“We love the space and the energy of living in the country, and we’ve been to lots of little country towns, but never felt at home.”
In February 2020, tragedy struck the Michalakellis family when Dimitri’s sister, Mersina Axiom, was killed by a drunk driver on Brisbane’s bayside. The tragedy, and the following COVID years, reinforced the couple’s decision to eschew the traditional trappings of Christmas.
In 2023, they spent Christmas house-sitting on a snowy little mountain in Montana in the USA, eating a big pot of chilli and playing with the kids.
Next year, Lucy will homeschool her daughters, while she and her husband help around the property.
“We’re hoping our lives will be a little slower, a little calmer, more with the flow of the seasons and the sunrise, rather than the school bell and peak-hour traffic,” she said.
“We are so lucky to be here, and our extended families are excited for us to have such a cool experience while our family is young and able.”
Christmas lunch in remote Queensland, however, does take some planning.
“Groceries need to be ordered by Monday to arrive on Friday,” Lucy said.
“This Christmas … we’ll be cooking a glazed ham for lunch, and our kids will be cooking and decorating some little gingerbread men.”
Lucy’s daughter Pip with one of three orphaned baby chicks the family is caring for this Christmas.Credit: Lucy Michalakellis
Jayashri Kulkarni, professor of psychiatry at Monash University, said it was not unusual for people to harbour a desire to do Christmas differently.
“There are many facets as to why Christmas is a stressful time,” she said, pointing to a loss of regular scheduling, the financial stress of buying gifts and large quantities of food, and the reality of family dynamics.
“For those who don’t have deeply held religious beliefs, perhaps there’s a sense that the meaning of Christmas has become very commercialised,” she added.
Many families are also dealing with grief, a terminal diagnosis, or severe illness at this time of year.
Leaham Claydon and Jianne Jeoung are staying in Brisbane, but are choosing to spend much of Christmas Day serving coffee and pretzels to the customers of their enormously popular Coorparoo cafe and wine bar, Snug.
Leaham Claydon and Jianne Jeoung outside Snug in Coorparoo.Credit: Tammy Law
“I’m like many others with divorced parents and for me, I prefer to avoid the need to manage too many people’s expectations,” Claydon said.
“With two families geographically separated, spending the majority of my day stuck behind the wheel of a car doesn’t give me the chance to unwind.”
The young-gun chefs, who were previously on the frontlines of hip riverside Brisbane restaurants Yoko and Greca, recently expanded into the neighbouring premises, opening Jane’s Deli.
The pair will head to Snug and Jane’s early on Christmas morning to start rolling out and baking pretzels.
“We’re big fans of the Christmas Day service, actually,” Claydon said.
“We used to be those people racing around on Christmas Day trying to find a coffee.”
This way, the coffee is unlimited.
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“The team and customers are always in good spirits, too,” Claydon said.
Afterwards, the couple will retreat to the comfort of home to enjoy a good meal – just the two of them.
“Once the shop is reset and ready for Boxing Day, we’re planning to raid the shelves at Jane’s and head home to whip up a meal, turn the air-con on, crack into a nice bottle of wine and eat a bunch of stone fruit.
“Ume, our cat, has his birthday on the 25th also, so we’ve got a little cake to share, and he goes nuts for parmesan cheese, so maybe we’ll treat him to a little slice.”
Claydon and Jeoung will raid the shelves of Jane’s Deli for their Christmas meal. Credit: Markus Ravik
To those who may feel “stuck in the system”, especially during the silly season, Lucy Michalakellis implores them to take a chance.
“We took a chance at staying on a farm for two weeks and ... now we get to experience a whole different way of life. Why wouldn’t you take that chance?”
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