Sydney on New Year’s Eve is like someone spiked the Kool-Aid and handed it to an entire continent. The city gleams with a kind of sweaty anticipation, shimmering in the December heat as tourists and locals alike fight for a view of the harbor, all in pursuit of that perfect fireworks that will come bursting over the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
The year is about to get wrapped up, so I’m on my way to Mrs Macquarie’s Point in the Botanic Gardens, along with roughly half the population of Australia and anyone else with functioning eyes. Of course, a view like this comes at a price, and that price is arriving absurdly early. Mrs Macquarie’s Point can hold around 25,000 people and usually closes by about 2 p.m. once the human tide has filled every available patch of grass. So you stake out your territory, settle in, and wait.
This year will also be something extra, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the old “coathanger” Harbour Bridge by having an obscene amount of explosives detonated around it.
Fireworks in Sydney harbour.
I guess people have camped out since sunrise. Some probably since last years celebrations. A sea of anticipation and flip-flops. Fortunately, Sydney doesn’t expect you to spend ten hours contemplating your mortality. Things start happening around the harbor from noon, with events throughout the day building toward the midnight fireworks, the sort of spectacle designed to make every other city’s New Year celebration look like someone waving a sparkler outside a suburban garage.
Fireworks in downtown Sydney.
So here we are, at the far end of 2006, waiting for Sydney to set the sky on fire. To friends scattered across assorted countries, continents and inconvenient time zones: Happy New Year. See you on the other side.
2 comments
Leave a reply