The phrase ‘the more the merrier’ rings true for two Clyde residents who have invited people to walk through their outdoor Christmas display.

Joel Gavan and Tom Howard, the residents behind the festive display at 17 Dunstan St, have had more than 200 people make the most of the opportunity so far this festive season.

There house has been a stalwart on the Central Christmas scene and this is the fourth year they have decorated it with lights and inflatables.

However, they have branched out this year by entering their festive home in the inaugural Light Up Central campaign, a Christmas house trail and competition, after finding out about it on social media.

Their display took many hours to get it the way it is today.

“It took eight people about nine hours just to do the lights. It was staff, friends and family who helped us.”

During the day the display doesn’t look like much, as the inflatables are lying on the ground, deflated and secured. 

But, at 7.30pm the timers kick in and from 8pm to 11pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights visitors are welcome to walk through the driveway at the front of the house.

Pictured are (from left) Tom Howard and Joel Gavan, the masterminds behind the festive display at 17 Dunstan St. PHOTO: Supplied.

Joel said his favourite decoration is one on the roof where Father Christmas is climbing up a Christmas tree and a dog is pulling down his pants.

“Working in post everyone is Santa and we all know about dogs at people’s houses.”

Joel and Tom hold the contract for NZ Post courier services for Alexandra, Clyde, Ranfurly and Cromwell residential areas so it is a very busy time of year for them with days starting at 4.30am, driving, sorting and supporting their staff.

“We’ll be checking up on things and winds at the start of the evenings, and we welcome those visitors we see . . . but then we might [get to bed early] because of the very early starts.”

Some of the inflatables and lights on show. PHOTO: Facebook 

Prior to moving to Central in 2019 they lived in Wellington and were a bit disappointed as lights were focused in the city centre and there were very few in the suburbs. 

“Tom is from England where it’s dark at Christmas . . . it looked a bit boring down here when we moved. So, we’ve really built on it for the last four years.”

The lights and inflatables will be up until about the second week in January. The inflatables come down at 11pm each night, as the timers turn off, and various fixings, including guy ropes, schist rocks and fencing panels, hold everything in place until the next evening. 

Joel said there weren’t any carols on yet, but they might play some just before Christmas.

There is also potential for them to expand into other holiday seasons in the future.

“We’ve talked about Halloween but we haven’t decided yet.”

Joel said his motivation for the display was to make people laugh and get into Christmas.

See it for yourself at 17 Dunstan St, or watch this video of Joel and Tom’s house, which was sent in by a reader.

Vote for your favourite Light Up Central festive house, or register your home in Light Up Central to have a chance to win prizes.

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