It was a street cleaner who finally helped us find Embarkation Park - a grassy patch of land above a multi-storey car park that was our ringside seat for the fireworks. We waited patiently for 11 hours in the company of Austrian, Irish, Japanese and - as you might hear in the video - German tourists, everyone having come here to celebrate New Year's Eve. The Australians perhaps have more sense, and go to the balcony of a friend's house - or just stay at home to watch the fireworks on TV. Thankfully, the mammoth wait was worth it - and everyone cheered as the sky above the Harbour Bridge exploded.
Its been strange being away over Christmas and New Year, but thanks to the wonders of Skype, email and text messaging we have heard from lots of you. Sydney is full of other Christmas orphans - backpackers in Santa hats who suddenly find themselves a long way from home. We've resisted the temptation to buy hats - although until this evening I was wearing something of a Christmas Santa beard. Many of you will be relieved to hear its gone (for the time being anyway) with January's arrival meaning its time for my monthly shave.
We've spent the time in between Christmas and NYE exploring the city, taking hundreds of photos of the Opera House from different angles, and enjoying watching bats fly overhead from the Botanic Gardens as dusk falls. There are far too many nice delis and coffee shops here for our budget, so we've developed a new form of window shopping that involves going in to just smell and point at the lovely food - then move on before it becomes too tempting. We have, however, been able to make the most of the free public barbecues they have here - giving us the chance to cook at last, after three months without a kitchen. We've even invested in a cool bag - not very "cool" perhaps, but essential for sitting in a park for hours on end, waiting for the big bang.
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