It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Australian Christmas

Just a couple days after my rantings about the ridiculousness of Winter wonderland Christmas decorations at David Jones, the entirely appropriate and festive City of Sydney Christmas banners went up all over town. I have to commend the graphic artist of these banners, who chose to depict birds and flowers common in Sydney with a holiday twist. I think that they are very lovely and evocative of a celebratory spirit within the realm of Australian reality.







I went out gift hunting in The Rocks a few days ago and was further heartened by more Christmas decorations that fit Australia. Like this little Christmas tree in a tourist shop that is covered in Australian-styled ornaments:



And, how great is this Christmas tree, made entirely out of bicycle parts - so representative of Australian outdoors culture?:



Finally, check out my Christmas cards, which I picked up at the post office. Normally cartoon Christmas cards are way too cutesie for me, but these seemed so appropriate. I felt like everyone at home would love them. And, come on, a platypus Santa Claus? Even my cynical heart is not that hard.:



Partner-in-Crime and I went on the hunt for a little fake Christmas tree today. We didn't end up getting one, only because we couldn't find one in the size we wanted. I still want to find one, along with at least a few decorations for our apartment. I am contemplating the question of how we'll choose to decorate our tree. Anything too wintery seems wrong, so I'm thinking a bright and colorful theme will fit in with Christmas in summertime. I wish I'd taken a picture of the cutest ornaments I saw today (ironically enough, at David Jones), which were echidnas and wombats. I'm probably going to need a couple of those.

All this Christmas decor talk leads me to the question that Little D posed a couple days ago. Fellow expats, care to weigh in on how you plan to decorate for Christmas? Tree? Fake or real? What else are you doing? Now that my annoyance with winter decorations has subsided and my creativity has been piqued, I'm looking forward to creating an Australian Christmas theme .... whatever that may be.