The Annual Sydney Christmas Exploration

It was one of our last family adventures of the year and one of the first non-scouting adventures in ages - our annual Christmas trip into town.

Since the aim of the trip is simply to get the boys a little more excited about Christmas, I think we can say we succeeded.

We caught the bus in and after a seemingly interminable wait, the bus arrived. It was 20 minutes late and it was standing room only.

The trip into town was difficult because the boys didn't hold on nearly as much as they should have. Someone moved over to let Tristan sit down but because he couldn't keep still for more than five minutes, he got up and someone else took his seat. On the plus side, the boys made a new friend on the bus.

Once we arrived in town, we headed down to the big Christmas tree. It's got new decorations this year and it held their interest for a minute or two.

We walked around the tree to the "Matrix fountain" in Martin Place. I don't know what it's really called but it's something of a permanent fixture in our visits. At the time, they were cleaning the fountain (no cleaners in sight, just a lot of detergent bubbles). The kids had a great time throwing and blowing bubbles. I'm sure it was all full of dangerous chemicals but there were plenty of babies around enjoying a good frolic in the bubbles too.

Next stop was the Pitt Street Mall which was, as usual decorated with vaguely christmas-shaped aluminium lights. We had a quick look in the new westfield but it was just "too shiny" for our tastes (and too girly). Then it was off to David Jones who have a fun annual "moving window display". It's always full of "rats" (ie: there are anamatronic mice in every scene). One mother shot me a funny look when I said to the kids, "let's move onto the next rat-infested carolers window".

We picked up some reindeer antlers while we were there too.

Next stop was the Queen Victoria Building where we had a look at their awesome crystal tree. Then we headed up to the model shop and spent a few hours looking at stuff we couldn't afford.

Next, we went out to the front of the QVB and listened to the weird talking dog statue. Everytime it woofed, the kids burst into peals of laughter. We attracted quite a crowd.

Finally, I took the boys to the comic book store to show them the awesome figures they had. Kaelan was really interested in the Terminator comics.

Then it was time to catch the bus home and rest our poor tired feet.

Another year done.