Sunshine, mince pies and a world-famous cricket ground – what more could an England cricket fan want?
Well, maybe the Ashes series in Australia, where they still have a chance to reclaim the urn after the first three Tests.
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That won’t happen this time, though, as Australia’s emphatic 82-run victory in Adelaide gave the hosts a 3-0 lead in their fourth consecutive Ashes series at home.
England’s Barmy Army, which has 3,000 fans, will fly to Sydney and Melbourne for the final two Test matches.
There are other tour groups spending Christmas in Australia, as well as families and friends taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
The Redding siblings are four such fans.
Alex, Sam, Rory and Katie had booked their flights and tickets for the fourth and fifth Tests “12 months ago” in the hope of witnessing a rare series success in England.
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Instead, they watched as Australia chased tourists away from their homes in Penwortham, Lancashire, in just 11 days.
“Everyone at work has been grieving me for the past two weeks that it’s over,” Sam said.
“We always hope that when we get there we can still fight for it.”
There is a lot of optimism about England’s chances of ending a 15-year wait for a series win before the series begins in Australia.
But they are now staring at the possibility of extending their winless run in the country to 19 games when the fourth Test begins in Melbourne on Thursday 25 December (23:30 GMT).
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Ben Stokes’ side and their supporters will do everything they can to avoid a dreadful 5-0 scoreline.
Alex says the “excitement and fun” of head coach Brendan McCullum’s “Bazball” has “reinvigorated” Test cricket for England fans in recent years.
But the Reading brothers said their expectations for the fourth and fifth Tests were low and all they asked of their players was “a little fighting”.
“Every pundit has mentioned it but it all comes down to mental resilience. ‘Bazball’ has now been elevated as a term, just like meaningless cricket,” added Rory.
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“In a five-day Test match, you’re supposed to hunker down. To drift outside the ‘sixth stump’ area, that never happens in the textbooks, is mostly the fault of the higher order.”
Asked if he believed England would win the Ashes series, Sam said: “It looks like Australia are doing too well at the moment.
“There has to be more than one player who can represent England and make a huge impact.”
Despite the poor results, the siblings are still looking forward to the trip.
“We’re going to have a great time no matter what,” Katie said. “We have to keep this attitude.
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“Obviously it’s disappointing that we didn’t push for more but we’ve spent so much money.
“We’re going to make the most of Christmas and New Year there. It’s also the first time Rory and I have been away from home at this time of year.”
Katie, a teacher, was determined to make the most of the 21,000-mile round trip as part of her Christmas break.
“If all else fails, I can rely on golf,” she added.