Sydney - New Years Eve 2017

The city was very well organised, many vantage points were already full by late afternoon, the roads were blocked to traffic, and there we several security checkpoints on the way down to the harbour.

We arrived early, around 17:45 (doors open 19:30) and joined an already fairly long queue, and were so pleased we did. When the doors finally did open we were met by lines of waiters serving champagne and hors d’oeuvres.

Thankfully as we were one of the first 30 or so through the doors, and able to get a table with seats. We were soon joined by the family who, it transpired, were the family of the singer from DJ Vamp who were providing the entertainment for the night. We chatted, snacked at the food on offer and the time passed quickly.

The family fireworks at 9pm were impressive, followed by the Harbour of Light where numerous ships, all decorated with rope light, sail on the harbour. Everyone was vying for a good view, spirits were good and very friendly, and everyone was making sure you could get your picture or have a better view. The food and fizz flowed long into the night.

The group stopped playing around 11:50 and the sound system broadcast a local feed, so we could all hear the countdown. It started quite early at 100, and the excitement built quickly, and down it came to ….5-4-3-2…bang, and the sky erupted.

It was everything we’d hoped it would be. The air was filled with light and sound from seemingly everywhere. From the main display on the bridge itself, to barrages on the water, and areas behind the Opera House, you literally didn’t know where to look next.

It was also good to put the camera down and live in the moment, just to watch what the rest of the world was seeing on TV, and be part of something huge.

One impressive display on the bridge was the Rainbow effect, in honour of the countries decision to legalise same sex marriage. Then all too quickly the display came to a climatic end, and it was all over.

The event stayed open for an hour, though there was a directive for the area to be cleared by 1am. When we began to make our way out of the city, it seemed like the whole city joined us. All 1.6 million according to official figures, and we heard later only 13 arrests.

We made our way to the transport hubs, to catch a bus to the suburbs. This is where we had some difficulty, and where some local knowledge would have been helpful. We ended up literally going around in circles trying to find the correct hub, sadly the volunteers brought in for the evening couldn’t really help, as most of them weren’t local either.

Finally, we decided to pop into a hotel, and ask their concierge for help. We set off to walk, as it was almost closer to walk back to our accommodation than it was to find a bus.

Thankfully after about 15 minutes walking, we noticed a taxi, flagged him down, he stopped and was able to take us home. By now it was almost 3am, and we were so pleased to get back without having to walk. The taxi fare was around £9, but to be honest we would have gladly paid two or three times that.

To see the Tyne Bridges’ younger, larger sister all lit up and exploding in pyro is something I’ll remember the rest of my life, and even though we were half a world away from home, it seemed to bring us closer to our friends and relatives. Bucket list?