Christmas is less than two weeks away. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, sausages on the barbecue, green and red lights festooning any and every available surface, the once-a-year from Aunt Sally and Uncle Joe from “down there” – that’s what the season is all about, right? But don’t forget the Lego. Because what Christmas – whether or not you have kids – is complete without them?

That’s what the good people at Lego seem to believe, anyway, and to emphasise how ubiquitous their plastic building blocks are they’ve constructed the largest Lego Christmas tree in the Southern Hemisphere right in Auckland’s Aotea Square. And it’s got some crazy statistics:

• The tree is bigger than a two-storey house (more than 10 metres tall) and wider than a family car

• It’s made from more than 500,000 Lego bricks

• It weighs 3.5 tonnes

• It’s the biggest Lego model ever constructed in New Zealand

• Building took more than 1,200 hours

The Lego tree in Auckland is actually the third annual edition of the tree to be built South of the Equator, but it’s the first instalment in New Zealand (the first two were in Sydney and Melbourne). Also boasting decorations on the tree are as big as basketballs and some uniquely Kiwi elements such as Santa with a surfboard, a Kiwi and a Pukeko, there’s also a Lego rugby ball and a cricket bat at the base of the tree. And the tree isn’t just a large hunk of brightly-coloured plastic: there’s a light and sound show every evening at the tree from 7pm.

The tree will remain in Aotea Square until 27 December.