One Million People All Saying 'Ohhh-Ahhhh' Together

Day 27:
After a couple of days with normal wake up times (07.00 or so) we had a very rude awakening today. Latest night’s going away revelry led to a 04.00 wake up this morning to catch a 06.00 flight from Hobart to Sydney.

The morning didn’t start well as the airport shuttle showed up 30 minutes late and ended up dropping us off about 35 minutes before boarding. This is of course a problem when check-in closes 30 minutes before boarding. You’ve never seen a sight like 50 people all running across an airport and using the check-in kiosks like madmen trying to beat the 5 minute deadline. Luckily Jill and I can just about read each other’s minds and made it with time to spare.

Both Jill and I slept from takeoff to landing. We made it out of the airport smoothly, but ended up in Sydney and not able to check-in until 14.00. When you’ve got nothing to do, you go to the beach, right?

So just like our last day in Sydney we made our way up to Manly. Unlike the last time it was packed! The sun was shining, the sea was calm and it was a good day to be alive.

Jill took the time to to read in the shade of a tree (she’s gone through the first three Twilight books and we’re going to have to buy the fourth before we leave) and I spent the hours body surfing in the water. Compared to Tasmania, the water was great. It couldn’t have been more than maybe 23C or so, by it felt great in the sun. I just never bothered to get out the whole time we were there.

Eventually we checked into the hotel and freshened up. But at 16.00 we started the trek to the harbor to get spots for the fireworks. This is no joke after all. By 14.00 when we checked in, the local news was reporting that tens of thousands were already in place along the water ready for the evening’s festivities. Can you imagine getting to your spot 12 hours before the fireworks? You’d better bring some food and games.

At any rate, most of the seriously prime spots were full when we got there around 17.00 but we did find a place along Circular Quay. Four hours of waiting and at 21.00 the family fireworks went off. They weren’t anything special, but at least it cleared out the families.

After the families left, we were able to move up to slightly better spots closer to the Harbor Bridge and closer to the water. There was more waiting obviously, but when New Years came it was amazing! The fireworks were larger than anything I’ve ever been witness to (four barges, the bridge, and the surrounding skyscrapers were all involved) and they went on non-stop for like 17 minutes. We learned later on that there were nearly one and a half million people along the harbor front and that the event cost nearly A$40 million.  Needless to say this was one of those amazing sights that you must go see at some point. If you find yourself in the area, you cannot miss these fireworks.