“Daddy organized the fireworks just for you!”

The view that I woke up to on New Year's morning

I started my travels with several thousand bangs, as I witnessed what must be one of the world’s best fireworks displays on New Year’s Eve in Sydney, Australia.
 

I arrived in Sydney on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, and soon I was with friends, perched in an apartment overlooking the harbour, having a grandstand view of the pyrotechnics.

There are two displays: one at nine o’clock for the kids, and then the Big One at midnight. I met a guy that afternoon who told me his little daughter’s birthday is on December 31, and every year he tells her that he organized the fireworks just for her! I guess that delusion won’t last for many more years.

My favourite moment was when a massive explosion shot out thousands of flares that formed a giant, golden, expanding orb high in the night sky. It reminded me of Tina Turner’s hair.

I tried to take a picture of the fireworks, but my camera can’t do justice to it.

Three thousand boats were out in the harbour to watch the fireworks, and later, after midnight, we watched their red and green lights drifting slowly over the black water as they returned home one by one from the revelry.

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I have been wondering why Qantas is not spelt “Quantas”. Now I know. Who else (who is not an Aussie) knows?