New Year in Sydney

When you've moved from London to Sydney and New Year Eve rolls around, there’s only really one way you’re going to spend your evening isn't there? Sydney has one of the most famous New Year firework displays in the world and, having grown up watching TV coverage of the display every year, there was no way I was going to miss out on experiencing it in person.

Fortunately for me, my office is based in Milsons Point and sits just above Luna Park. There is a massive double balcony, complete with BBQ, which looks out across Lavender Bay, towards Darling Harbour and (most importantly) at the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Waking up on New Year’s Eve to the warm weather was a good omen. I kicked off the day the polar opposite to how I would at home – which would probably include sleeping in, spending the day prepping myself for the evening ahead and travelling to wherever I was celebrating, Instead, I was up early and my first port of call was a swim here:

Not a bad way to end 2011, huh?

That evening, I met up with a few friends and we made our way to the office. Battling through the hundreds of people making their way down to the harbour’s edge reinforced just how fortunate I was to have landed myself a job with such an amazing location.

Settling in for the evening at the office, the drinks flowed, music played and we all hung out on the balcony awaiting one of the greatest shows in the world. Although arriving early to avoid the crowds on public transport, there was plenty to keep us occupied - including an impromptu visit to the sausage sizzle across the street whilst try to locate the bottle shop with the shortest queue, one of my friends getting locked out of building for a considerable amount of time without anyone noticing, plus the usual drunken antics.

What they don’t tell you on TV is that the main display at midnight is not the only one of the evening. At 9pm them is a warm-up firework display, meaning that families with young kids or long distances to travel can still join in the fun. Then, on the hour every hour, there are short bursts of fireworks which act as a ‘countdown’. It’s basically fireworks galore. And if there is one thing the Australians can do amazingly well (apart from coffee, drinking and brunch) it’s fireworks. The photos don't do it justice, but here's a snippet of what we saw:

And to make things a little bit more magical, after travelling back to the office on New Year’s Day to help clean up, I spent my afternoon drinking champagne at Opera Bar with this as my view:

Happy 2012 everyone!