The snoozing Santa who has become an international hit
Nodding off on the job is not a good look - but for a certain Santa – it is all in a day's work.
He often has to deal with screaming toddlers, but when the really tired ones fall asleep in the queue, this Sydney Santa’s trick is to join them.
He is a Harrington Park institution, with families lining-up to meet him, sometimes for hours.
Many kids continue to come back even when they are way past the age of having ‘that Santa talk’.
Ella Almond has been coming for years: "Um, probably since year 5…or, before that, I think."
The perfect portrait takes hard work and sometimes Santa gets tired - as do his little visitors.
So both are known to stretch out on his throne to take a nap.
“I was waiting for her to wake up and start crying, but she was obviously very comfortable with Santa, so it was good,” said one mum.
The snoozing has made this Santa and some international impersonators social media hits.
The fact that he has a real beard helps too.
Saint Nick has been spreading the magic of Christmas across the world since the fourth century but somehow he has ended up in this small shopping mall.
Santa says his mission is too important to give up: "when I turn me toes up,” he will stop, he said.
As long as he continues to rest up, that should be some time yet.
The joy of Santa has been captured in many ways around the world:
