I must be crazy! New Year 2007 will be forever in my memory as the most boring 14 hours followed by the most incredible, fantastic, awesome, stunning 15 minutes of fireworks at the stroke of midnight. Arriving into Sydney on 30th December I only had time to sleep before waking up the next day and joining the mass of humanity oozing into the harbour to find a spot from which to view the fireworks. By 10am the concrete was filling up but I managed to squeeze into a space right at the front with the opera house to my right and the bridge infront of me across the water – perfect! it was so perfect that I daren’t walk away and spent 14 hours guarding my spot (as did everyone around me) to ensure that when the time came I was in prime position! So, without a book to read, no crossword puzzle, no soduku, newspaper or any form of mental stimulation I sat and sat and sat as the minutes dragged by in the heat and my skin turned pink. a plane high in the sky drew patterns and symbols in keeping with the theme of ‘time of your life’ Having made friends with some Brits nearby I trusted them with my backpack long enough to walk off and find food. An hour later I had picked my way through a human carpet to find McDonalds! I also bought fruit though and lots of water. An hour after that I had picked my way back and made everyone jealous with the smell of a Big Mac and fries! So with crowds building, squeezing every inch out of the harbour the sun set and the atmosphere turned electric. Boats of every descriptions floated about with colourful lights to reflect the theme of time. By 9pm we were all a bit overexcited as the first fireworks whet our appetites for more to come – even they were good and it was just a warmup. With an hour glass on the bridge counting down every 5 minutes (it seemed to take forever) the magic moment arrived and the sky above Sydney Harbour filled with light, music, bangs, fizzes and ooooh and aaaaaaaah from the crowd. It costs $3million and 20,000 fireworks died for our entertainment. The best thing for me were the plumes of light bursting from the top of every skyscraper in the business area of the city - and the waterfall of light which poured from the bridge at the finale- amazing! I am now exhausted, no sleep at all (I had nowhere to sleep so spent the night in a hotel lobby) and can’t check in to my room until 3pm - I must find coffee! Happy New Year!
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