Christmas Festive Lighting
Since the 1980's small festive lighting sets has been available which were suitable for indoor use such as decorating the tree. In years gone by the only outdoor electric lighting available was the normal household light globe. In recent years a large range of outdoor festive lighting has become available and many homes now display very creative displays limited only by the imagination of the occupants of the house. This display usually lasts from early December until the end of the year.
September 2014
I notice that retail shop is advertising a 2.7m Ropelight Sleigh with 2 Kangaroos, so Australian decorations are slowly becoming available.
They also had a Solar Light in the shape of a Kangaroo.
I found this tableau of Santa with a range of Australian animals drawing his sleigh. From left to right a koala, emu, wombat, kangaroo, white galah leading the team. Note that there is no snow on the lawn.
I've only been in Australia for 11 years. I love the Christmas lights displays which as far as I know is unique to Australia, I've lived all over Europe and I've never seen displays taken to such lengths by ordinary householders. There used to be a whole suburb near us (Chipping Norton, NSW) where serious lighting was done by almost every house. Thousands of people would walk and drive around - it was absolutely magic - they've stopped now unfortunately, there are still some very good displays, but I've yet to see one beat those.
From Betty, Frankston, Vic.
I have just returned from a drive with my husband looking at the Christmas lights in the homes in our area. Lots of reindeer, angels and mistltoe but no Australian images. Where are the kangaroos, emus, gum trees, kookaburras, wombats, dingos, galahs, koalas, dolphins, possums, platypus and frilled neck lizards. Surly they can be manufactured with white or coloured lights outlineing them just as the reindeer are.
Stephanie wrote in 2006 :-
Just found your site. You may be interested in the Christmas Lights in our small country town.
Each Christmas since the mid 1940s, the residents of the Adelaide Hills town of Lobethal have been spreading Christmas cheer to all who visit.
The community works hard each year, decorating homes, gardens and streets with thousands of dazzling lights for the 250,000 visitors who will drive or stroll through the town.
BankSA has been a proud sponsor of the Lights of Lobethal Christmas Festival since 1997, assisting in the promotion of the event and providing the BankSA Light Trails, which facilitate a smoother flow of traffic through the town.
The festival's program includes an official 'Lighting up Ceremony', Christmas Tree Festival and the Lobethal Christmas Pageant.
Here are links to Their Home page
I discovered a very organised town that really does make a feature of its Christmas lighting. Go to Lithgow Lights.com with this link.
They list how they organise it, the equipment they use and the Charity Donations that are the result.
I just had to include this Christmas display even though the photo has been taken during daylight hours in December 2014. It stands out with a spot light shining on it after dark.
It shows an image of the Ettamogah Pub which was for many years the subject of a cartoon series in an Australian monthly magazine.
The pub was so popular that actual buildings were constructed to this shape. The first was at Ettamogah near Albury, NSW. Other buildings followed.
Once again you see that Christmas in Australia is held in December which is summer in Australia, so no snow, green grass and blue skys.
