Silvester in der Sydney Harbour Bay

In the morning around 11 I set off from Manly towards Sydney. A short walk, onto the ferry and 30 minutes later I was standing at Circular Quai, right next to the opera house. The Kithara was anchored 2 days ago in the bay 200m next to the opera house by the previous owners, who were still on the boat.

In theory, I would only have had to walk the 500m to the opera house and go to a small pier to the right, where Kaspar would have picked me up with the dinghy.

So much for theory.

In practice it looked like the city had been completely overcrowded for hours. Every free spot was occupied by families on picnic blankets, no one could get through. Securities blocked everything off and although they were extremely nice, they also consistently thwarted every attempt to get closer to my goal.

I was sent from checkpoint to checkpoint. With my heavy backpack, I dutifully walked from A to B, uphill and downhill. -To be sent somewhere else again because everything was cordoned off.

The suggestion that I live on the boat didn't really work either.

In short, 4 hours later, completely sweaty with 3% battery, I was able to report that I was at Pots Point ready to be picked up.

The anchorage for the boat was perfect. Set back a bit, not in the very crowded hustle and bustle at the front, we had a brilliant spot with a direct view of the opera and the Harbor Bridge. There are countless boats around us. Big, small and very small. Party atmosphere everywhere. Booking a yacht for such an evening costs 12,000 AUD.

Every spot on land had been filled with people since 6am. Families with young children actually wait up to 18 hours for the event.

The firework. broadcast worldwide and the first major one worldwide in the New Year.

The “children’s fireworks” were lit at 9 p.m. It’s gigantic in itself. Afterwards, ferries, square-rigged ships and other tall ships decorated with fairy lights sailed in a row through the bay.

And then it was time. A spectacle, seen X times on television. But when you're in the middle of it, you take your breath away. The atmosphere, the mood, these gigantic fireworks