A museum visit may not seem an immediate candidate for the list of quintessential Christmas activities but research undertaken by the Council of Australasian Museum Directors (CAMD) tells a different story. CAMD'S annual survey shows that total attendances at CAMD's twenty-one museums rose to over 12 million in the financial year 2005/06. Over 9.1 million of these visitors went to one of Australia's major museums and 2.9 million to New Zealand venues