Easter can be anytime, anywhere, anyhow.

I have spent many an Easter on the Riverina plains, one on the wild West Coast of Denmark, two in the Kiwi capital of windy Wellington, a couple in the outback NSW town of Lake Cargelligo (though not deemed outback if you ask a local; the outback is much further out) and one scrambling for eggs on the dewy grass at the Beechworth community egg hunt, all some time in March or April depending on the straight-forward-yet-somehow-not-easy Easter Method Calculation.

While mathematical formulae are not my forte, I do love a good classic.

Taking a leaf out of Charles Dickens' book, here's how Easter has evolved in my novella to date:

Ghost of Easter Past

1) Good Friday was the only day of the year people ate fish and chips for both lunch and dinner. A lemon wedge and parsley were optional extras but a little bit fancy to be honest.

2) Chocolate eggs were Cadbury or Red Tulip and no one had even heard of a bilby. Swiss chocolatier Lindt had yet to reach the Riverina.

3) Everyone stayed up late to watch The Good Friday Appeal in the hope their $5 pledge might be read out and consequently doubled. It never was.

4) Hot cross buns were eaten only on Good Friday and never-ever came with chocolate in them.

5) Easter Bunny left a decent but not ridiculous stash of chocolate eggs all in exchange for one second-rate carrot out of the crisper drawer.

Ghost of Easter Present

1) We love fresh fish on Good Friday but have just as often eaten pumpkin soup or a savoury tart.

2) We don't buy hot cross buns for the full six to eight months they’re available leading up to Easter and try to keep it to only the week before.  

3) Our daughters draw faces on their hard boiled eggs for breakfast over the Easter long weekend in a nod to my only Easter spent in a Danish summer cottage in western Jutland. 

4) Easter Bunny favours Lindt for us – it wouldn’t be Easter Sunday without Lindt carrot-shaped chocolates.

5) Our kids get a stupendous stash of chocolate eggs even before Easter Bunny hops by courtesy of school friends, neighbours and random acquaintances. By mid-May, any leftovers get crushed up and turned into chocolate muffins or cake. Not that anyone craves chocolate again until spring.

Ghost of Easter Yet To Come

1) Hot cross buns will be baked and eaten year-round. Young people will have to Google-equivalent their origins.

2) Easter Bunny may have been replaced by a more politically-correct provider of chocolate eggs.

3) Despite rumblings in the news again this year, the Easter Hat parade should survive a few more generations.

4) North Melbourne will retain the Good Friday AFL fixture and is hopefully winning a few more matches by then. 

5) Camping is an ever-growing Easter holiday pastime. Colac Colac (Clack Clack) will still be packed! (Perhaps plan ahead and book now.)

Happy Easter and safe travels lovely readers, wherever Easter takes you this year.