Christmas in Photos

30 Dec

Written By

Christmas light panorama from Frederick Street, Randwick

These are some of the other photos I took over the Christmas period. I had meant to post them before Christmas but didn't get a chance to sort through them all in time, so I thought I'd post them now instead.

Most of the photos are from around Sydney, except for the first few which I took during my trip to Melbourne last month. The Christmas lights are all from houses in Frederick Street in Randwick, near where we live.

My favourites are the ones from around the Queen Victoria Building in the Sydney CBD, which was beautifully decorated this year. I had coffee there with my mother on Christmas Eve and was spoilt for choice, walking around, trying to work out what to photograph.

There are quite a few photos so I've split them after a page break to make it load faster and you can click on any of them to make them larger as well. I hope you enjoy them and that you had a wonderful festive break. ~ CJ.

The Melbourne CBD, decorated for Christmas. I wish I'd spent more time wandering around as there was a lot I didn't get a chance to photograph and the decorations were beautiful. Next year, I guess.

Myer's Christmas windows in Melbourne. This year's window displays were based on Rob Scotton's "Russell's Christmas Magic" and there was also a separate window with a nativity scene.

"Russell's Christmas Magic" is about Russell the Sheep, who comes to the rescue when Santa and his broken sleigh are left stranded in Firefly Wood. It really felt like the book was coming to life.

The sheep, Santa and reindeer were fabulous and most were fully articulating. The frogs were my favourite though - very cute.

These photos are from the Royal Arcade, which was beautifully decorated. The Royal Arcade is a heritage shopping arcade in the Melbourne CBD which dates back to 1869.

Back in Sydney, with the Christmas tree and decorations in Westfield Eastgardens. There weren't that many kids waiting to see Santa when we were there. Maybe they all send their lists through Skype and Facebook these days?

Christmas lights in Frederick Street, Randwick. The entire street gets into the festive spirit each year, putting up lights and decorations.

More Christmas lights. I found the Santa (bottom right) a little bit creepy but most of the people there seemed to like it.

This house above (top) was my favourite in the street. Beautifully decorated.

The house above (top right) was lovely as well. I particularly liked the reindeer, which moved up and down every few second.

David Jones Christmas windows in Sydney. The nativity scene (top) is there every year and I really liked the nutcracker figure. It must have been about a meter tall.

The David Jones windows are usually inspired by Christmas carols. The two windows here were from "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and "Away In a Manger".

This window was inspired by "Angels We Have Heard on High" and was one of my favourites. The mice were adorable.

"Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" inspired this window. If you've ever wondered what a reindeer party looks like, well, now you know.

"Deck the Halls" inspired this window. This one was a little hard to photograph but it was lovely in person, particularly the tree.

This last window was my favourite. It was inspired by "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" and featured a Salvation Army band.

Inside the Queen Victoria Building in the Sydney CBD, decorated for Christmas. The QVB is one of Sydney's most historic buildings and dates back to 1898.

The QVB Christmas tree. The tree was 24 metres tall and decorated with 60,000 lights and 144,000 Swarovski crystals.

Different angles of the QVB Christmas tree. It takes more than 70 people 40 hours to install and decorate each year.

The Strand Arcade in the CBD, decorated for Christmas. The Strand dates back to 1892 and was one of five Victorian era arcades built in Sydney. It is the only one still standing.

Our Christmas tree and decorations, as well as a self-portrait in front of the tree.

Different view of our tree and some of our favourite decorations. We've had the stockings since I was a child.

Some ornaments on our tree. I took these with my macro lens, which is why I was able to get so close.

The koala ornament (bottom right) is one of my favourites. It's one of a set of three Australian ornaments I've had for about five years now.

The Santa ornament (bottom left) is another of my favourites. It's hand painted and the colours are beautiful.

The gold bauble (top right) is one of our oldest ornaments. It must be about fifteen years old now.

We've had the robin ornament (top left) for even longer. I think my father got it when we lived in England, so it must be over twenty years old now.