The Retirees travelling in Australia – New Year 2019 in Sydney

It all started with doing a favour. Our son has been posted overseas. This meant a partial rearrangement of things here in Aus but this all changed when the posting went from 1 year to 4 years. We offered to garage one of their cars picking it up in Sydney just before they flew overseas. We would stay in Sydney for the New Year tick off the New Year Fireworks from the bucket list and then drive to the Southern Highlands and the Hunter Valley.

With the change in the posting the vehicle was sold to one of our daughter-in-law’s family who would fly to Brisbane to pick up the car. This forced a change to our plans. We arranged to meet the Buyer at the Newcastle Airport and we return to Brisbane from Newcastle.

So, having set the scene we arrived in Sydney on 30th December having met up with our co-travellers in Brisbane. We were staying at Pyrmont at the Oaks Goldsborough. This is the old Goldsborough Mort building transformed from a Wool Store to apartment accommodation. Pyrmont is an old area of Sydney and very interesting to walk around. We visited Pirrama Park where we expected to spend New Years Eve to view the fireworks over the harbour and judging by the tables and chairs so were a lot of other people.

part of the garden
entombed warriors
another entombed warrior
viewing the Remembrance Day history
a grotesque
Entry to the church
the cupola

31 December and we made certain of our spot by arriving early at Pirrama Park. It was a hot afternoon and even the harbour did not seem to cool it off. Two cruise ships docked getting ready for the fireworks. By sunset the crowds had shuffled in and we were thankful for our planning. One thing we did not plan adequately for was the deluge of rain that bucketed down around 7.30 pm. Our umbrella was saturated and leaking rain onto us. We were drenched so we returned to our apartment to change into dry clothes and returned just as the 9.00 pm fireworks commenced.

The weather held off but provided the perfect darkened sky to illuminate the fireworks at midnight and the change of the year. As usual the fireworks were spectacular, but a picture paints a thousand words so here are the photos.

Tea room
Looking out from the entrance at the garden
A beautiful lady under the mistletoe
the nine private apartments
view back to the gift shop from the Araucaria Parterre

We walked back to the apartment along with all the other revellers and made it to bed well after the new year had begun.

 

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Glendon

Retired Australian Lawyer having worked representing the innocent and the not so innocent in Australia and some of the remote parts of the world and having travelled widely through Europe, Western Russia, Canada, USA, New Zealand, Thailand Malaysia Solomon Islands northern China, Hong Kong and the UAE So now that I have the time I am writing about my travels present and past. Hope you enjoy exploring off the beaten track.