THE CHRISTMAS TREE MEN

There are few things as evocative of Christmas as the aromatic scent of a fresh pine tree nestled in the corner of a family room. However, for farmer Robert Boag, installing a Christmas tree at home is the last thing on his mind. That’s because he and his son, John, are far too busy delivering some 12,000 pine trees to customers right up until December 25. 

Together, Robert and John run a 500-hectare property in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales where some 100,000 Monterey Pine trees flourish at any given time. 

When Robert ‘The Christmas Tree Man’ delivers a couple of trees to a local school, a teacher enthuses: “They are gorgeous. Everyone has been commenting on how beautiful they are and how great they smell.” 

Meanwhile, Robert’s family home gets the tree that has fallen off the truck. “We dust it off as best as we can, and usually it scrubs up pretty well,” he laughs. 

While the tradition was popularised in Europe around the 16th century when families would decorate trees in coloured paper, fruit and sweets, today many still consider a Christmas tree the ultimate festive accessory. 

For the Boag family, this desire fuels a year-round business of planting, fertilising and pruning. Four to five years after planting, the pines have grown tall and wait to be festooned in their festive finery.

The HOSPITAL MIDWIFE

While most families will be tucking into turkey and ham on Christmas Day, Ronnie Shepherd will probably be massaging a woman in labour, and helping to bring a new life into the world.

“Even after all these years, I still get a thrill as a baby is delivered safely,” says Ronnie, who has worked every second Christmas Day during her 18 years at The Mater, one of Sydney’s most popular maternity hospitals. 

“I love being on duty on Christmas morning,” she says. “There’s a fantastic atmosphere. The hospital holds a competition for the best decorated ward and our section pulls out all the creative stops. We held an impromptu play in our ward one year with three midwives as the wise men, a ward assistant as mother Mary, and one of our newborns as baby Jesus.” Ronnie laughs at the memory. “Our CEO has to give us the prize after we burst into a Christmas carol on his arrival.”

On another occasion, a group of carollers were singing in the ward next door as Ronnie and her team delivered a baby. “We invited them in and they sang ‘Away in a Manger’ for us. I was crying, the mum and dad were crying, even the doctor had tears running down his face. That was a truly special delivery,” she says. 

THE GOURMET CAKE BAKER

Passionfruit cheesecake or apple frangipani tart? Hazelnut mousse or hummingbird cake? At Epicurean Kitchen in Sydney all of the options are tantalising, but at Christmas time, the gourmet fig and macadamia nut cake, whisky log and ‘very merry Christmas cake’ are the orders of the day. 

“We sell thousands of cakes every month,” says baker Sam Green, “but Christmas is our busiest month.” 

He oversees a kitchen that stays open 12 hours a day, six days a week, with packers working through the night to get the freshly baked tortes and tarts out to cafes, clubs, pubs and restaurants by the next morning. 

“We sell thousands of our fruit mince tarts in the lead-up to Christmas,” says Sam as he wipes a fine coating of flour from his cheek. “I’m thinking of changing our tart filling to a jam of blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, just for a change. It’s more summery, and more Australian, don’t you think?” 

When not concocting fresh recipes for new cakes, the creative artisan is ordering ingredients in bulk for his team of bakers. At Christmas time an additional 60 kilograms of macadamia nuts and 100 kilograms each of dried fruit peel, raisins and sultanas are needed to meet demand for the gourmet fig and macadamia nut cake. “It’s a huge favourite with our discerning customers,” says Sam, who gets enormous pleasure from his job. “When customers tell me how much they love my cakes, that’s when I feel like all my Christmases have come at once.”

SANTA - THE MAN IN RED

Retired bank teller Edward Vella has donned a red Santa suit and white woolly beard for the past six festive seasons, and he has no plans to quit anytime soon. “Playing Santa is like being an actor. It’s an easy character to play,” he explains. “You simply put on the costume, put yourself in a Santa frame of mind, and wait for the kids to come flocking.” 

Tall and slim, Edward needs the padding Myer provides for his busy shifts in one of

its flagship stores. “A natural smiler”, as he puts it, the Malta-born retiree finds it easy to entertain the kids who queue to sit on his lap. “Some children give you a hug and look in your eyes like you’re God,” he muses, “while others can be plain petrified, but their parents won’t drag them away. Everyone wants a photograph of their child with Santa … I’ve been photographed more often, I reckon, than George Clooney!” Edward chuckles. Most of the children firmly believe that Santa exists and that he will arrange for computer games, bicycles and Barbie dolls to be delivered come December 25. “On Christmas Day I become a real-life Santa to my own family,” says Edward. “But my Santa suit gets a day off!”