HAPPY NEW YEAR! (and a firework or two!)
Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Tue 1 Jan 2013 11:58
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Although Pittwater is only an hour away from Sydney
by bus and ferry (so it's not difficult to return) we're trying to see
as much as we can while we're here. So it's a holiday for us and
we're doing a bit of concentrated sightseeing! Saturday was
a beautiful day in Sydney and we did what every tourist was doing -
taking a picture of the Opera House, a picture of the Bridge, another
picture of the Opera House, another picture of the Bridge, an even better
picture of the Opera House and an even better picture of the
bridge.......... we have loads! But the waterfront of Sydney really is a
lovely setting and it did look a picture. While there we had
a fascinating guided tour of the Opera House, so got to see all the
theatres inside and learnt some of the history - including the fact
that the original build estimate of 3 years turned out to be 16
years.That almost makes the standard overrun of IT projects look good!
It seems the winning designer (there was an international competition), not
expecting to win, submitted a design that he had no idea how to build!
Still they got there in the end and made a beautiful job of it.
Other things have included a trip up the main
Parramatta river on the Rivercat to Parramatta (with a weir across the
river, that's where navigation ends), the Sydney Fish Market (reputedly one
of the largest in the world) for fish 'n' chips (of course!), the Maritime
museum (there for 3 1/2 hours and we only saw half of it) and The Hobbit in 3D
on the largest iMax screen in the World. That was amazing and if anything, too
close and too real! Oh, and of course there was a little something
organised on New Year's Eve. Unlike Christmas Day, the weather behaved
itself for New Year - no wind, the harbour water was calm and the
skies were clear, and it was quite warm for midnight. So it was just about
perfect for the fireworks which lived up to expectations with the normal Sydney
extravaganza (rumoured to cost 7 million dollars). We could see it all from the
boat on the mooring, but we actually saw it 50 yards away on the
pontoon of the marina where our friends were also gathered. During the day,
hundreds of boats had been making their way down the rivers and inlets to
the harbour to see the fireworks and the anchorages were all packed. At
00.15 they all decided to head for home, tearing back up the river at
dangerously high speeds and 5 or 6 abreast - just like the M25 on Friday
afternoon! The water churned and it was too risky to make our 50 yard
return trip for a good hour or more. But eventually it was a
safe return from a wonderful
experience.
Have a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New
Year!
 A Japanese tourist or what?!
 On a lovely day it's difficult not to take
pictures of it!
 And it looks different from every
angle.
 The shells, or sails, that they had no idea
how to build!
 Very cathedral-like from this
angle.
 And it covers a vast
area.
  The shells are covered in 1,056,000 ceramic
tiles (all made in Sweden) that reflect the
sunlight....
 ..... and present
a beautiful pattern.
 Lots of people! With bars/restaurants
alongside and along the waterfront, it's the place
everyone
goes.
 Quite a reflection! The photographer (me) is
standing in the middle, in front of the doors.
 The other side. It's an exhibit at the
Museum for Contemporary Arts.
 Back to that Bridge
again.
 And Liz checking out one of the
bridge supports.
  One of the modern skyscrapers in the harbour
area - streamlined and a lot of glass!
 But not everything new is
rectangular.
.
 It's NEW YEAR! The Bridge had a big red pair
of electronic lips in the middle that counted down
to midnight and when the first fireworks went up they exploded into
the shape of red lips
- very clever!
 Fireworks were on the Bridge, on several of
the skyscrapers and on 7 barges stretching the length
of the main harbour
area.
 There were in fact 2 displays. The first
took place at 21.00 for the children (but was just as
good)
and lasted 8 minutes. The display at midnight lasted 12
minutes.
        THE END!
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