The Christmas spirit is alive and well on the plains, with a magnificent display of decorations stopping traffic and turning heads at ‘Boolcarrol’ near Wee Waa.
A team of festive farmers, led by Jim and Danika Randall, have been as productive as the elves in Santa’s workshop this silly season.
Constructing an impressive red sleigh, herd of reindeer, giant green Christmas tree, and – to top it off – the display lights up, including Rudolph’s red nose.
“The sleigh was an old fuel trailer we had there, the reindeer are made out of 44-gallon drums, we used tyres for the tree, and a solar panel to run the lights,” said Jim Randall.
Once upon a time, a bit of tinsel on the farm gate was considered festive enough but the Boolcarrol Christmas spectacular takes it to the next level, spreading plenty of Christmas cheer after the floods and boosting morale as passers-by stop to take photos on Spring Plains Road.
“We just thought we’d do something fun with everything that’s been going on,” added Jim.
“It’s a busy road, I get messages every day from people about it. We put the hashtag ‘Boolcarrol Christmas’ (or #Christmas @Boolcarrol) there for when people share their photos.”
Jim said the Christmas creation was very much a team effort and praised the crew who helped him put it together, including some backpackers from Ireland who have shared images of the ‘Aussie bush’ scene with their family at home.
“They loved seeing it,” said Jim.
“Now I just need to think about what we’re going to do next year.”
