The Mallikopoulos family have taken the tradition a step further, transforming their Cremorne home into a Christmas wonderland, complete with snow machines, penguins and a real-life Santa Claus. Donations collected from admirers are given to the NSW Cancer Council.

It's a family tradition spanning generations. 51 Rangers Road has lit up in December for the past 12 years, but even in the small apartment the family previously shared Helen Mallikopoulos would "go berserk" every Christmas.

"We now are doing it every second year because mum actually fell off the roof trying to do the Christmas lights," recalls Vicki Burnside, her daughter. "She was actually in a brace for about four months after that."

For Vicki, creating their Christmas display is far more than a pleasurable distraction. "It brings people together," she says, "when normally you wouldn't talk to people on the street."

Vicki's most memorable moment came from a simple remark, uttered by a bystander unaware Vicki lived there. "This is the highlight of my life," the woman stated. From their exchange, Vicki had the impression the woman was about to undergo surgery. "I just felt like we gave her so much strength to go through what she was about to."

Rangers isn't the only road in Sydney lighting up this December. Spiro Tzouganatos continues a 32-year tradition at his Ashbury home. Newer to the Christmas lights tradition is two-year-old Robin Rose Sinclair, who delighted in the colourful displays lining Second Street in Ashbury.

Western Sydney put on an impressive show at Camellia St, Greystanes, complete with a motorboat bearing several Santas, reindeers composed entirely of lights and a signpost pointing to the deceptively distant North Pole.

St Mary's Cathedral has joined in with an exterior light display replicating paintings of the birth of Jesus and serving as the backdrop for an animation of The Nutcracker Suite.