We drove down Burwood Highway in Burwood (suburb of Melbourne, Victoria) last night expecting to see some great Christmas lights. And maybe a few Santas.
We could see the lights from a distance so easily found 378 Burwood Highway (not too far from Middleborough Rd). Each Christmas, this Burwood house has various lights up high on a garage roof and the roof of the house. I quite liked the Santa sleigh and reindeer light display on one roof.
From the sign out the front, we realised we had missed seeing Santa himself by about an hour 🙁 However, there were other Christmas elves wandering around inside and a couple of fairies even did a dance routine a bit later!
Inside their yard, there are not as many lights, decorations and Santa sleighs as we expected BUT there were so many Santas on display! Along one wall were man-sized Santas (and a couple of other characters in Christmas garb). Along the second area was an incredible display of Santas – on trains, in parachutes, sitting, standing, with presents or without, with sleighs and reindeer (didn’t notice any with boomers unfortunately) and even some in snow globes for the white Christmas feel. You could spend ages there looking at each one in detail…
The elves are happy to pose for photos with people, and with the huge throne in a corner, I assume photos with Santa are also welcomed when he visits.
If you’re in Melbourne, I’d definitely say visit Burwood for a Santa display like no other! 4 Santas for this spot 🙂
I love seeing the elves wonder around in our local zoo. Our zoo does a huge festival of lights here and they have elves and Santa present. The elves are great with kids and are always telling jokes for the kids and adults.
Seeing elves wonder around a zoo would be great fun! Is the zoo open at night for the festival of lights? I don’t think it would work so well here as it doesn’t get dark until late at Christmas time (and zoos tend to want to settle animals much earlier than that!)
The Brooklyn Zoo in New York City, has the same thing. With elves a Santa and a sleigh being pulled by reindeer for the children to ride. I ave never been, but always wanted too.
I’m seeing more benefits to a winter Christmas now – our zoos in December just aren’t dark enough for lights to entertain kids at a decent time! Our zoos (well in Melbourne anyway) celebrate summer rather than Christmas – we have music concerts and dancing while picnicing on the lawns throughout summer.
I find it interesting the differences with the holidays concerning the climate we live in. Never really having anything but winter, the warmer weather might be something great for a change. I have family that live in Florida and they go on about the differences between warm and cold climates. It could be something my family might enjoy one year, going to a warmer climate to celebrate the holidays. Something new always opens your eyes to other cultures and traditions.