When we arrived, the hill was pretty busy but it was still possible to get a patch of grass. Unfortunately said patch of grass was on a rather steep slope, which proved rather uncomfortable. And you had to attach all your bags to you to stop them rolling down. Still, it's not something you have to do every day so we wedged ourselves in.
Mark, Lise, Mel and Dom.
Me and Mark.
The view is bridge end-on. Which means you don't get the great symmetrical side-on view you get from Balmain, and you don't get to see the light show properly on the side of the bridge. But since you are right in the centre of the action, with fireworks going off on all sides, it does make for an equally good, if different, experience.
It was a pretty drizzly, grey day and we were slightly concerned about it being a bit wet to sit out. But the worst of the rain seemed to dry up around lunch time and by the evening there was even a little bit of sun poking out through the clouds.
It starts to get dark. I'm not sure if I'd been up on Observatory Hill properly before. It's actually a great view over north Sydney and as the sun goes down and the lights go on you can see the lights of Luna Park glittering away on the opposite side of the water.
The first fireworks began at 9pm, not long after it properly got dark. It was a short teaser of what was to come. Following that was the Harbour of Light parade on the harbour, where numerous ships decked out in light displays processed across the water.
We ate cherries and drank some gin and tonic and gathered more evidence for our theory that all Irish people know all other Irish people. We found some passing Danish people and forced Lise to talk to them (she is Danish), haha.
Suddenly midnight was upon us and we cracked out our sparkling wine and oohed and aahed in the appropriate places as gunpowder exploded on all sides. It was brilliant. And 2010 began.
After a lengthy slumber, we spent New Year's Day going to watch Fantastic Mr Fox at the cinema, which was almost as good as the fireworks!
[More photos as usual at Flickr]
New Year's Resolutions
I am usually terrible with making new year's resolution. I am terrified of failure, really. And I prefer not to commit to anything until at least March, by which time I am usually able to make a better informed assessment of my chances of success.
My 2009 resolutions were to keep giving up sucking my thumb (I am now 22 months thumb-sucking 'clean'!) and to write down every book I read. Both I managed. Here are this years.
- Knowledge: Become better informed. I already get the weekly Guardian Politics and Media podcasts, but I'm going to subscribe to the News and Culture ones as well for this year. And any important events I shall try to keep a brief commentary of in my paper-diary.
- Health: Go for a 45 minute run at least once a week. I am currently doing 2-3 runs a week so this should be ok. Also, stop creeping into the realms of a junk food diet. I eat healthily at home but we are eating out an increasing amount and I must remember that it still counts. Order fresh sashimi rather than tempura when eating sushi. Order poached eggs not scrambled for brunch. Get grilled fish not battered with my chips.
- Money: Try to save a decent amount of money whilst I still have a steady income. At least 25% of my weekly income must be moved into savings. I've been doing this since September so must continue!
- Write down every book I read. Again!
- Keep my scrapbook better. I have a huge pile of stuff to paste in and I never seem to get around to it!
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