Happy New Year!

January 2nd, 2019

Happy New Year! One of my resolutions should definitely be to be more active on my blog. Since I haven't had time to write a post about my Christmas in Australia yet, I'll just split it into two parts: Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Christmas

As I mentioned in my last blog post, it's definitely harder to get into the Christmas spirit here than it is back home in Germany. The temperatures were around 25°C and we spent the day running a few errands and then enjoying the beautiful weather on the terrace.

In the evening, we prepared the ingredients for raclette. We chose raclette because it has something for everyone. But before we could eat, we all gathered in the living room, where we put on a small singing performance for my aunt that my uncle had come up with and that we had rehearsed beforehand. We sang 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' and after each round, my aunt received a bottle of her favorite wine, which my uncle had hidden in the living room beforehand.

Then we finally ate and after we were all full, we exchanged gifts. We put all the gifts on the table and someone would always choose who would unwrap their gift next. The chosen person would then choose the next person, and so on.

I am very happy with my gifts, which include a water bottle, a beach towel, and two pairs of flip-flops. I am definitely prepared for the beach and outings now! :)

On Christmas Day, the actual Christmas in Australia, we went to church in the morning and participated in the service. In the evening, a family friend came over and we played 'Murder Mystery' after dinner. It's a game where we were all assigned different roles and had to guess how a person died and who the murderer is based on random information, clues, and questions. The murderer is one of the players, but that player doesn't initially know it.

On Boxing Day, we didn't do anything special and I spent my day on the terrace reading a book.

New Year's Eve

On December 30th, I made my way back to Oatley, to my host family's house, where they offered me to stay for New Year's Eve. My plan was to be in Sydney early on New Year's Eve to secure a good spot for the fireworks in the evening.

And so I did. On December 31st, at 7:30 in the morning, well sunscreened and equipped with a hat and scarf, I left the house and made my way to Sydney. Sydney was already very crowded and it was difficult to find the right way, as many streets and squares were already blocked off. Fortunately, there were helpers everywhere who distributed maps and gave directions to the respective destinations.

My destination was Macquaries Point. I had read about various places beforehand and decided on this spot in the Botanic Gardens, as it was free (many places charge money on New Year's Eve and have limited capacity) and I expected it to be quieter there, as the spot was not right by the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, but you could still have a pretty good view of them.

When I finally arrived at around 8:30, the line was already very long. I expected people to start lining up early, but I definitely didn't expect so many. Fortunately, a friend of mine had arrived a bit earlier, so I didn't have to line up all the way at the back, but there were still many people in front of us.

At 10 o'clock, the entrance opened, but it wasn't until just after 11 that we were finally inside. We first secured a spot on the grass and spread out our things there. It definitely felt like a big picnic, as everyone had brought food and there were towels and blankets everywhere. Bringing your own alcohol was prohibited, but there was the option to buy food and drinks (including alcohol) on the premises.

I spent the first few hours lying in the sun and just relaxing. Thankfully, the sun wasn't shining directly on us the whole time, as it would occasionally be cloudy and a few raindrops would fall from the sky. It wasn't a problem though, it was actually refreshing.

However, the nasty surprise came around 7pm.

At 7pm, it suddenly started pouring rain. Everything got wet - clothes, towels, backpacks, ... There were many trees on the premises, but even when seeking shelter under them, you would still get wet. Who would have expected that? Warm Sydney on New Year's Eve and suddenly it's raining so heavily.

It wasn't a short rain shower either, it lasted for at least an hour, and I was pretty exhausted because my things were completely soaked and partly dirty from the mud that had been washed up from the ground. And I still had the whole night ahead of me. I was really close to giving up, but then I bit my tongue because I didn't want to have waited all day for nothing.

At 9pm, the first fireworks started, mostly meant for the kids who would already be in bed at midnight. These fireworks already put on quite a show at the harbor, although I didn't have the best view and couldn't take good photos, but I could still enjoy the fireworks.

After that, the crowd dispersed a bit and we looked for our final spot for the midnight fireworks. We managed to find a relatively good spot in an area that was actually restricted and could see both the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge from there. So we stood there for about 2 and a half hours, waiting...

All the waiting definitely paid off, because the fireworks at midnight were sensational. First, the countdown from 10 was displayed on the bridge, followed by the breathtaking fireworks. They weren't just set off at the bridge and the Opera House, but also from various other points in and around the harbor. The whole sky was illuminated and colorful.

After the fireworks, I planned to meet up with a friend at a boat party next to the Opera House to celebrate the new year properly. The party was supposed to start at 1:30am and go on for 3 hours. Getting to the Opera House wasn't so easy with all the crowds, but fortunately, I made it there on time.

The party was really good, especially since the boat was sailing through the harbor and you could also go outside onto the dance floor and enjoy the fresh air. It wasn't cold outside at all, it was very pleasant. The only thing was that I was pretty exhausted from the long day, but I definitely wasn't the only one.

After the party, I waited at the harbor for the first sunrise of the year and then drove back to Oatley. I arrived in Oatley shortly after 7am (about 24 hours after leaving the house the day before), quickly showered, and fell asleep around 8:30am. I woke up again at 3:30pm, packed my things, and drove back to my aunt's.

All in all, it was certainly very exhausting, but it was definitely worth it. I'm very glad that I didn't give up after the rain, but bit my tongue and stayed in the park, because I would have missed out on so much! However, I'm not sure if I would do it all over again... next time in Sydney on New Year's Eve, I might take it easier and just tell everyone about the unique experience from 'back then', when the weather in Sydney on New Year's Eve was probably worse than at home... ;)