New Years Eve!!!

On New Years Eve, we wanted to go back to Manly beach for some more fun in the sun before we had to go home.

We took the ferry over again, and tried to fit a couple hours of beach into the morning.  We wanted to get back in time to try and get a nap in, so the kids (and us) could make it to midnight.

On the ferry to Manly

Kids gone wild

The day before, we had walked to Little Manly Cove, which is a bit more of a hike.  Today, we tried the bigger, more popular beach closer to the wharf so we could fit as much in as possible before lunch.  It wasn't nearly as busy as the day before.

The water was nice, but the sand is not as good as the more northern beaches in Australia.  The kids and Dave had fun making sand pyramids, and decorating them will shells, stones, and all the glass we could easily find buried in the sand.  There was a lot!

Building some manly pyramids

There is an awful lot of glass on the beach here!

December 31st frisbee!

Decorating the pyramids with shells, stones, and glass.

We grabbed a quick lunch at the wharf (finally some good Mexican food in Australia from Guzman Y Gomez!), and headed back to Circular Quay.

On the ferry back from Manly

On the way, we spotted Paul Allen's private mega-yacht, Octopus.  We had seen his boat in Cairns too, but it seemed to follow us down to Sydney (as did the Rhapsody of the Seas cruiseship).  I guess even mega rich people want to see the fireworks too.

$160 million Octopus

We got back to the hotel, had a quick nap, and Grandma ran out to find some food and drink for the big night.  We had got tickets to the fireworks by signing up to be members of the Sydney Royal Botanical Society.  For all the other venues, you needed to line up early (there were thousands of people waiting at 9:30am, when we headed out to Manly), or pay hundreds of dollars for tickets to a party that we wouldn't appreciate.  This was a good hack, and a great way to get close.  We showed up just before the gates opened at 5:00, and made our way down to the front for some pretty impressive seats.

This is the spot we got.  Not bad!

The Botanical Gardens were amazing!

We brought wine, but forgot the glasses, so this is Cathy's Pop-Top wine.

As we waited for the the show, we spotted helicopters (news, and police) hovering, and there were some displays by stunt planes, fireboats, and a boat parade we could watch.  We also played some games on the lawn, had snacks, and went for a wander in the gardens.  We never got a real chance to look at the Botanical Gardens, but I regret it now.  The brief walks we did through the one tiny part were mind blowing.

Lots of police and news helicopters.  At one time, we could see 6.

These stunt planes entertained for a while while we waited for midnight

Good to know they were watching, but it was very loud!

Tick tock!

The lawn filled up, but wasn't too crowded.

Some Yahtzee to pass the time.

At 9:00, there was a smaller fireworks show put on for the kids, and it lasted 5 minutes or so.  It was pretty cool and a good way to test my first time trying to photograph and video fireworks.  I really wish I had a tripod of some sort, but it was all going to be handheld.  Ah well.

After the kids show, it was some more waiting, and the crowd started getting larger.  There were probably 3000 or so people on the lawn by the time midnight rolled around.  It was all very civilized.

How else do you drink a beer and relax at the same time?



Still awake!

Trent ready with the GoPro

At midnight, there was a bried countdown, and the show started!  It was a good long show, and I tried hard to both video it, and experience it at the same time, which is why the video is a little shoddy, but it was pretty cool to be outside in the summer for New Years with family on the other side of the world.  We posted to facebook and wished everybody back in Canada and the US a happy new year, even though it was only 7:00am their time.

After the show was done, some of the other parties near us kept going, but we started back to the hotel.  I was fearing the worst in terms of transportation and crowds, but the walk to the bus station was very orderly and quiet, and at the bus station they had lots of people helping guide us to the right place.  We waited 5 or 10 minutes, were the last ones on the second bus out, and got back to hotel by a little after 1:00am.

Done for the night - waiting for the bus.

The most orderly mass exodus I've ever been a part of.

The kids did great, and I'm glad, since this will be one of the highlights from a great trip!