'Tis the season

I know it is December... but it is really hard to think of it as Christmas when it looks like this outside:

Taylor & Mossman street corner

Back yard / front yard / side yard (not exactly sure which.)

The Christmas decorations are up, of course, around town: at the Centro and the Plaza shopping malls, downtown along the mall, etc.  Not as many houses decorated, perhaps, as you would see in the US, but people do deck out their cars with reindeer-themed ornaments, which I have never seen in the northern parts of the US.

It kind of felt like Christmas was over as soon as we shipped our packages mid-November, but it does feel very festive.  Because it's summer, the atmosphere kind of feels like the Fourth of July to us.  Inside the stores, of course, it's pretty much the same as in the US.  (Only a lot--a lot--more puddings.  Christmas puddings and pavlovas are, as far as I can tell, the most popular.)

Huge Lindor chocolates ... only $25!

I don't know why I was surprised to see a Bundaberg holiday ginger beer!

Didn't take a picture of this one, but last weekend we saw limited edition Christmas Barbeque chips on sale.  I have been meaning to write a post on meat-flavored chips for a while!  We bought some roast turkey and cranberry sauce flavored ones that we'll have to try, so you can look forward to that some time in the new year. ;)