The 4m VISTA telescope (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for  Astronomy) has been operating at ESO's Paranal Observatory since the end of 2009; it has just one instrument, the world's largest near-IR camera (VIRCAM).
 Most of the time is shared between six large ESO Public Surveys
 covering a range of galactic and extragalactic science.
 I will provide a short overview of the telescope and camera,
 and some early highlights from the surveys.