As long as I can remember, Sydney, Australia is where I wanted to spend a New Year’s Eve. It is an extremely distant place, but it always seemed to be warm and inviting. In fact, this entire trip has revolved around being in the Sydney Harbor on New Year’s Eve. Some things would happen before and some things would happen after, but my butt was going to be down at the Harbor on December 31st, come hell or high water. I just hoped it would be worth the investment.
We got really lucky to find a small suburb of Sydney (Coogee) that is right on the beach and had a furnished apartment available for the New Year’s week. The area had a nice vibe, a great family friendly beach, and an incredible beachfront trail system that went from one area to the next. The bus system was cheap and easy to use, which allowed us not to rent a car for the time we were there. We spent the first few days checking out the downtown harbor area, going to the Sydney zoo, and meeting up with the Aussie couple (Ben & Galli) who we had met earlier in Fiji. The weather was great and the area really started to fill up for the New Year’s celebration. We decided to go to the Sydney Zoo the day before New Years. Can you say “Zoooo”. It was OK but it took over an hour just to get in and then there were people everywhere. I really felt bad for the animals having to stare at all these crazy people all day. That afternoon we took the ferry over to Ben & Galli’s area and met up with them for a proper Aussie barbie. They live in a nice older section and directly adjacent to a neighborhood park, which allowed Ben to give Mat, Charlie, and I some cricket lessons. While we played cricket, Sally finally got some well-deserved “girl talk” in with Galli and her girlfriend, Lisa. Dinner even included some kangaroo meat. Crikey, it was good!
New Year’s Eve day started like a military operation. I had done some earlier recon while walking around the harbor, trying to find a good vantage point to see everything, but somewhere that we could get out from quickly and not be too crazy. There was a large Garden/Park right past the Opera House that had hilly areas with good views and plenty of access points. All the bus routes were reviewed, contingency plans were discussed in case we got separated, and we even had our walkie talkie’s in case the kangaroo meat hit the fan. I had also filled my backpack with vodka, red bull, champagne, and coke. Something for everybody. Well, you know how well laid plans don’t go as planned. We got there early, only to find out that the Gardens were closed to the General Public (that would be us) and everyone else had gotten there early too. Now it was a mad dash, along with tens of thousands of others, towards the harbor to find any area where we could see. Every section we got to was already filled to the max, and it started to look like the only fireworks we would see would be in the reflections off of the surrounding skyscrapers. Luckily, the very last section was open, so we hustled in hoping for a decent spot. As it turned out, this area was not very crowded at all, and we got some great real estate with a perfect view of the Opera House. We laid out our towels and settled in for the five hour wait. Luckily the weather was ideal, warm and breezy, and the crowd was pretty mellow with lots of families. The time went by pretty quickly by people watching and having a cocktail or four. They put on two fireworks shows; one at 9:00 for families and the big one at midnight for the crazies. The first one was good but rather short and then the place really started to get packed. I guess all the barflies use the first show as their alarm clock to leave the bars and head down to the waterfront. At about eleven the party really kicked in, the restaurants that are on the Harbor turn into club mode and music starts pumping from all directions. The mood stayed festive, and we never saw anybody getting out of control. There is no ball that drops at midnight, just a huge explosion of fireworks from the bridge and at the Opera House. At this point everyone is screaming and jumping around. The fireworks lasted for about twenty minutes and were definitely the biggest I have ever seen. As quickly as they started, they ended. Now the dash for the exits began.
We got really lucky to find a small suburb of Sydney (Coogee) that is right on the beach and had a furnished apartment available for the New Year’s week. The area had a nice vibe, a great family friendly beach, and an incredible beachfront trail system that went from one area to the next. The bus system was cheap and easy to use, which allowed us not to rent a car for the time we were there. We spent the first few days checking out the downtown harbor area, going to the Sydney zoo, and meeting up with the Aussie couple (Ben & Galli) who we had met earlier in Fiji. The weather was great and the area really started to fill up for the New Year’s celebration. We decided to go to the Sydney Zoo the day before New Years. Can you say “Zoooo”. It was OK but it took over an hour just to get in and then there were people everywhere. I really felt bad for the animals having to stare at all these crazy people all day. That afternoon we took the ferry over to Ben & Galli’s area and met up with them for a proper Aussie barbie. They live in a nice older section and directly adjacent to a neighborhood park, which allowed Ben to give Mat, Charlie, and I some cricket lessons. While we played cricket, Sally finally got some well-deserved “girl talk” in with Galli and her girlfriend, Lisa. Dinner even included some kangaroo meat. Crikey, it was good!
New Year’s Eve day started like a military operation. I had done some earlier recon while walking around the harbor, trying to find a good vantage point to see everything, but somewhere that we could get out from quickly and not be too crazy. There was a large Garden/Park right past the Opera House that had hilly areas with good views and plenty of access points. All the bus routes were reviewed, contingency plans were discussed in case we got separated, and we even had our walkie talkie’s in case the kangaroo meat hit the fan. I had also filled my backpack with vodka, red bull, champagne, and coke. Something for everybody. Well, you know how well laid plans don’t go as planned. We got there early, only to find out that the Gardens were closed to the General Public (that would be us) and everyone else had gotten there early too. Now it was a mad dash, along with tens of thousands of others, towards the harbor to find any area where we could see. Every section we got to was already filled to the max, and it started to look like the only fireworks we would see would be in the reflections off of the surrounding skyscrapers. Luckily, the very last section was open, so we hustled in hoping for a decent spot. As it turned out, this area was not very crowded at all, and we got some great real estate with a perfect view of the Opera House. We laid out our towels and settled in for the five hour wait. Luckily the weather was ideal, warm and breezy, and the crowd was pretty mellow with lots of families. The time went by pretty quickly by people watching and having a cocktail or four. They put on two fireworks shows; one at 9:00 for families and the big one at midnight for the crazies. The first one was good but rather short and then the place really started to get packed. I guess all the barflies use the first show as their alarm clock to leave the bars and head down to the waterfront. At about eleven the party really kicked in, the restaurants that are on the Harbor turn into club mode and music starts pumping from all directions. The mood stayed festive, and we never saw anybody getting out of control. There is no ball that drops at midnight, just a huge explosion of fireworks from the bridge and at the Opera House. At this point everyone is screaming and jumping around. The fireworks lasted for about twenty minutes and were definitely the biggest I have ever seen. As quickly as they started, they ended. Now the dash for the exits began.
Getting down close to the action is great, but after it is over, you realize you are the farthest away from where you want to be and there are a lot of people in between you and home. Luckily the Red Bull and the cokes kicked in for all of us, and we high tailed it to the bus pick up spots. We arrived just as our bus was loading, and we got the last four spots. As the bus pulled away, I turned and saw the masses bearing down on us. We had just beaten a very long wait, and in thirty minutes we were home. I hate to think how long it could’ve taken. The next day it was reported that an estimated 1.5 million people were down at the Harbor. We spent our last day in Sydney relaxing on the beach, recounting the prior night’s festivities, and getting ready for our next destination, Burleigh Heads. Even though the New Year’s celebration only lasted a few hours, the memories of this great night will stay with us forever.
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