FROM a white-washed winter wonderland to a scorched and sunburnt country, the Duric family is preparing to celebrate its first Christmas in Tamworth. 

The four-member clan moved from Bosnia just nine months ago.

It will be their first Christmas without snow, and the first without their extended family. 

But it’s the traditions of the annual holiday that the Orthodox Serbian family won’t lose hold of, despite their move to the other side of the world.

Branko and Zorica Duric left Bosnia with their two children due to the “difficult economic and political situation in Bosnia” to arrive in Tamworth in February.

“We came here on a temporary visa, but the plan is to stay here,” Mrs Duric said.

“I think we’ll stay here for the rest of our lives. The area we were had problems constantly.

“We didn’t want to give those people the chance to put our children in war.”

Both Mr and Mrs Duric went on to get university degrees after the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995.

“We were still very young,” Mrs Duric said.

“After that we rebuilt our lives.

“We were worried about our future and our children’s future.”

Mr Duric now works as an agronomist, and Mrs Duric a crop entomologist.

The couple has two children in Marko, 9, who just finished Year 2 at Tamworth South Public School, and four-and-a-half-year-old Vedran, who’ll head to kindergarten in the new year.

As part of the Orthodox Serbian tradition, the family celebrates Christmas on January 7 every year.

Their first Tamworth Christmas will be no exception.

“We stick with the old calendar and the Catholics took the new calendar, but we’re all Christians,” Mrs Duric said.

“Usually the night before, the mother brings in straw to the house, puts it on the floor, with candles and coins, and the children look through the straw for coins.

“Whoever has the biggest amount of money or candy is the winner.

“Then early in the morning, the man goes to the Church for a liturgy, while the family at home prepares a dish.”

The family will then share in a traditional dish of cornflour, milk and other milk products “served especially for Christmas breakfast”.

Other traditions include traditional prayer and the making of special Christmas bread with a coin inside.

“All the family sits at the table, we put the bread in the middle, all hold it and break the bread,” Mrs Duric explained.

“Whoever gets the coin will be the richest for the year.”

The family will also be sharing a traditional lunch of roast pork. 

“It’s a really nice occasion to come together,” Mrs Duric said.

“It means a lot to the children especially because of the games. We usually have snow outside and we’re inside with a fire.

“We won’t have all our family this year, but we will through Skype.”

For Brazilian couple Karen and Antonio Martins, this will also mark the first year they’ll spend Christmas in Tamworth after arriving four months ago.

“We’ll be getting together with other South Americans,” Mrs Martins said.

“We’re going to celebrate on December 24 with a very big dinner and exchange presents, and then celebrate on the 25th with leftovers for lunch.”

Brazilians traditionally celebrate Christmas with a midnight dinner of pork, rice, turkey, vegetables and panettone on December 24, before festivities spill over into the next day.

“We are party people, we like to celebrate everything,” Mrs Martins said.

“We’re all about family and being together.

“We don’t care much about presents, it’s more about spending time together.”

Many other locals will celebrate Christmas on December 25, but the traditions around food and family remain the same.

Tamworth real estate agent and developer Mark Sleiman's Christmas will be infused with both Australian and Lebanese culture.

"It involves a lot of meat, a lot of wine and a lot of sleeping,” he said.

"A lot of afternoon naps and cricket. It's about family.

"The reason why we work so hard all year is so we can have this time to just unwind."

Mr Sleiman is tasked with preparing the family's lamb on a spit, which he says involves a lot of work but plenty of happy and full family members at the dinner table.

"We have a tradition, my sisters always say, 'Mark, make sure you have that lamb on the spit for us when we come home',” he said

"My mum always makes the hummus and tabbouleh ready and we've always got three or four loaves of Lebanese bread that are fresh from the bakery.

"I'd say we are a bit of a Lebanese-Australian infused family.

"Usually the following days after Christmas, that's when the mates start to trickle in for cold lamb sandwiches and the cricket."

For others, it’s the lead up to Christmas that is more exciting than the day itself.

For the past few weeks, children have been lining up to take Santa’s knee and fire off their Christmas wish lists.

The Leader caught up with Santa at Tamworth Square this week. In another life, Santa is a 57-year-old former security guard who goes by the name of John Young.

“Christmas is nothing without the kids,” he said. 

“They’ve been asking for motorbikes, but the biggest thing this year is drones.”

Santa also made an appearance at Tamworth Shoppingworld this week. 

In his other life, Santa is known as Kevin Adams, and has been donning the red and white suit since the 80s.

“I love it,” he said.

“People walk past with a frown on their face, you give them a bit of a wave and you end up with a smile.”

And that’s the spirit of Christmas – spreading cheer, sharing good food and enjoying time with the ones you love.