Helwick St is the main Santa hang-out, with children and adults amusing themselves for hours trying to count how many are lurking up power poles, dangling from chimneys or climbing in shop windows. (This reporter has counted more than 10 but won't spoil the fun for everyone else)
Earlier this week, there were slightly fewer Santas than last week, with three having gone missing.
The Wanaka Santas are occasionally targeted by thieves, and on Monday two young Alexandra men lost their driving licences for three months in the Queenstown District Court after using their vehicle in a night-time Santa-stealing expedition.
Const Ian Henderson, who nabbed the Santa thieves red-handed late last Friday night, said it was not commonly understood people could lose their licences if they used their cars in the commission of a crime.
Wanaka seemed to be popular with Alexandra youth as a place to practise breaking the law, for reasons Const Henderson said he could not quite understand.
However, they should be warned it was easy to be caught committing crimes in Wanaka, particularly when doing so in front of a policeman, just outside the Helwick St police station.
Const Henderson said he had gone for a walk to the end of the police station drive on Friday night when he was alerted by the sound of a noisy car.
The vehicle pulled up outside the Paper Plus store round the corner on Dunmore St, so he walked another few metres and stood in the door of a pharmacy.
Two girls walking towards him were looking up at the roof of the shops opposite.
"All of a sudden a Santa came hurtling out of the blackness and landed at their feet," Const Henderson said.
The ODT reported on Monday the two young men were later found on the roof of the Queenstown Lakes District Council building in Ardmore St stealing another Santa.
They received sentences of community work and were disqualified from driving for three months.
Meanwhile, Mrs Hall has reported a third Santa remains missing and police are keen for him to be returned.
