Happy New Year

Happy New Year from Sydney!!

We had a pretty quiet new year celebration. After a lot of discussion, we decided not to join the throngs of people packed under the bridge to watch the fireworks. It definitely would have been cool to see the fireworks by the harbor, but from all we heard & read, it was too much crowd for us!

Here are some pics of the crowds building up throughout the day.

Steps by the ferry at 7 AM, 1 PM, and 6 PM

Kirribilli shore at 6:30 and at 1

Boats started lining up along the harbor early in the afternoon.

And the park by the bridge filled up steadily throughout the day.

At 1, 6, and 8 PM

Luckily our apartment is close enough to the bridge that we had a pretty good view of the show from our balcony. It was certainly nothing compared to the view people had down by the harbor, but the evening in pjs drinking champers made it worth it to us!

 

This pic captures fireworks shot from either side of the bridge and some shot from the bridge as well

 

 

Toby and I send warm wishes for a fantastic 2013 to all our family & friends!! May the upcoming year be wonderful for each of you!

 

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Sunday afternoon picnic

Sunday was a day full of skyping, groceries, and laundry. But in the afternoon, we took some time out to take a bottle of wine and some cheese down the hill to Lavendar Park.

We found a great little spot overlooking the bay, Luna Park, and the bridge.

Then we settled in to enjoy the day.

It was a great afternoon!

 

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A movie & an afternoon in the parks

As our Christmas present to each other, we bought tickets to go see The Hobbit, which opened on Boxing Day here. This was our Christmas present because 1) we don't have a lot of extra spending money and 2) movies are craaaazy expensive here.


To prove it, here's our ticket for the day:

And here's my face when we're on the way to a $53 movie.

The movie experience was pretty much the same as going to a movie in America. There were a few differences though. For one, when you order movie tickets online, you get to pick your seats. This was a pretty exciting prospect for Toby!

The other big difference is the seats in the theater. They're nice, big, and comfy - more like non-reclining recliners.

All-in-all, we enjoyed our first Australian movie experience. And, given the price tag, it might be the last! =)

We grabbed a bite for lunch and then decided to head into the city to enjoy the lovely weather in some of the parks.

First we walked out to Hyde Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we walked across the street to the aquatic center.

 

 

 

And into the Domain...

 

 

 

 

 

There was evidence of the upcoming New Years celebrations.

 

Lots of fencing set up to corral the masses.

 

Art Gallery of New South Wales

 

The library

 

The library with a T-Dog

 

Australia Customs House

By this time, we were back to Circular Quay, so we jumped on a ferry and rode home to rest our tired feet!

 

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Sydney - Hobart Race

There are two national holidays that fall at Christmastime here: Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Boxing Day is an important day in Sydney: not only is it the day that Sydneysiders recover from their Christmas hangovers, but it's also the start of the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race!

The Sydney-Hobart race is a sailing race that starts in Sydney harbor and goes south down the coast to Hobart in Tasmania. To give you an idea of how far that is, the fastest race times are a little over a day, but most boats take longer than that (depending on weather, of course).

It's a big Boxing Day tradition for Sydneysiders to turn out and see the boats leave the harbor. We decided to join in, so we got up early on Wednesday to head out to Watson Bay. The ferry out to Watson Bay stops a little before the race begins, so we caught the next to last boat out. 

Heading out!

There are only a couple restaurants at Watsons Bay, and they're not very close to where we were going to be watching the race. So we packed up a picnic lunch, books, and a blanket for the day.

We got there right around 11 (the race starts at 1). It wasn't too crowded when we got there, so we were able to get a pretty good spot. 

There were all kinds of people out enjoying the day. 

You're welcome!

The crowds definitely picked up the closer it got to race-time. 

A lot of the boats in the race cruised by in the harbor before the race got started, so we got a good look at the boats and could see their crews prepping. 

The race starts when a gun is fired, which we could hear pretty clearly from where we were. 

Lining up for the start

And they're off!

All the boats watching in the harbor ride alongside the boats as the race heads out

It was amazing how quickly the boats got up to speed off the start line. There was a strong wind this day, and they said it was the fastest start ever. 

Pretty soon, the boats were alongside us. 

It was nearly as exciting to see all the other boats in the harbor chugging along towards the heads, following the race out.

In addition to the hundreds of boats out watching, there were also about 20 helicopters circling

After most of the boats were out of the harbor, we scooted across the to the other side of the point and got to see the boats passing the heads...

And heading out into the ocean!

It was a thrilling 20 minutes or so!

Since we knew all the public transport would be packed for the next hour, we took our time heading back to the town. We found a shady spot in the park and had our picnic while we waited for the rush to die down. 

Happy picnickers!

Then we headed back and got in line for the ferry. It was a lovely day to be at Watsons Bay!