Last night was the first New Year's Eve we spent in a major city, and what an event it was! The press was reporting that this year Sydney was going to outdo previous years with the fireworks show. Nobody was disappointed. The weather was perfect -- clear skies, warm, and only a slight breeze.
At the Christmas dinner we had with our landlord's family, we met Gerard and Margaret, who live in Sydney close to the harbor. When they found out we were going to the city for NYE, they invited us to join them at the park near their house. That turned out to be such a lucky break for us. The show is extremely popular, so all the prime viewpoints get taken early. People were actually camping in some spots from the day before. Gerard staked a spot around 9:30 a.m., right at the water's edge, with a perfect view of the Harbor Bridge. By the time we got there at about 6:30 p.m., the place was packed. The whole city gets out for this event, which combined with out-of-towners like us, means crowds everywhere. Everyone was doing a run on the bottleshops and the grocery stores -- so if we ever do this again, we will buy food and drinks ahead of time.
The show itself was magnificent, and a very worthwhile experience. The water added much to the effect of the light of the fireworks. Another cool thing was that there were two shows -- one at 9 (so families with kids could get home earlier) and the other at midnight. The midnight show was obviously better, and had a spectacular finale.
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