so this is the new year

So, 11 days too late, how about a little recap of my New Year's Eve? I believe this is the third or fourth NYE that I've spent in Sydney, and what an incredible place to ring in the new year. It's the middle of summer, and the Sydney Harbour becomes the cent(re) of attention for fireworks. During the afternoon, Jono and I met up at Circular Quay to take the ferry to Manly. We thought it would be a great day for a ferry ride and a trip to the beach, and we were right. Of course, Circular Quay was packed full of tourists trying to find a spot to stand for eight hours and get a bit of a view of the fireworks above the Harbour Bridge.

On 31 December, the Botanic Gardens are shut down so that only ticketholders can camp out and get a good view of the harbour. Here's a couple of shots of the crowds, at about 4pm, at the Botanic Gardens and at the base of the Sydney Opera House:

When we got to Manly, there were more people around than I would usually see there on a weekday afternoon, but of course all the kids are off of school, and it's a holiday for most people. Nonetheless, the beach and the corso were very nicely populated, and it was not uncomfortable to find a spot on the beach at all. We had some mediocre fish 'n chips, splashed around in the ocean for a little while, then took our sandy butts back to the ferry to make it to the city in time for our fireworks plans.

We met up with Jono's sister Jo and another friend, packed a snack bag, and headed out. We knew that the trains and buses would be miserable on NYE, with all the revelers, so we just went one stop to Martin Place, where I took a belated photo with the giant Christmas tree in the center of the CBD:

We walked from there to Observatory Hill, where Jono and Jo's folks were camped out after watching the 9pm family fireworks. They were awesome enough to relinquish their excellent spot on the hill for us youngsters, so we only had to wait for about two hours before the midnight fireworks. Armed with beers, glow sticks (to find each other in the crowd...of people wearing glow sticks), chips, salsa, and sparklers, we had a great time chatting and scanning the cityscape of North Sydney (from the lit-up ships in the water to the eerie grin of Luna Park), waiting for 2009. This was the view we had:

Here's where we were camped out, facing North:

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And at midnight:

The bridge looked AWESOME after all the fireworks were done:

And now it's 2009 and there's a lot of mystery in store for me this year. If I continue to be some amount as happy throughout the year as I was ringing it in, then I will be very lucky.