Happy New Year!

    I wanted to get this posted earlier (like on America's New Year's Eve) but missed the opportunity because of (once again) Internet connection being unavailable. However, I was in Sydney for New Year's Eve, and I can think of few places better to ring in a new year.
   This whole go-to-Sydney-for-New-Year's-Eve started while I was staying at Cambridge Lodge in October. As the time to leave for Melbourne approached, I was speaking with a young Scotsman about the change of the year. He asked if I would be there, and I said, no, the timing of my trip was such that I might be in Melburne or Auckland. He was appalled that I wouldn't be in Sydney to see the extravaganza. With his encouragement, I booked a flight back to Sydney, and another on to Auckland.
   A week or so later, when I was speaking with the American friends I made there, I mentioned that I would be back and that we should all do something. Discussion followed. Viewing vantage points, activities, food - all were discussed. Finally, I mentioned something about the gala that the Sydney Opera House held every year - they had heard about it, also. So after a quick look online, the deed was done. We would be at the opera house for the big hoo-ha.

    Dilemma: I had nothing to wear. Well, of course I did, but geez, the opera on New Year's? Puh-leez. The weekend that my friends visited me in Melbourne, we went a-shoppin' and found the perfect thing, half price. Done. Now, shoes. The problem is that merchandise of any sort is quite expensive in Australia. I looked after Christmas at the Boxing Day sales and found great deals: shoes marked down from $300 to $150. More than what my traveler's budget would bear. I got to Sydney with no shoes, thinking I would go barefoot or perhaps make a statement with my running shoes and the salmon-pink silk beaded number I had purchased for the occasion. My friend Susan and I went on a mission after viewing the touring Picasso exhibit at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. (A brief digression: Those who have been reading along will remember what a challenge finding the gallery was for me. For the record, Susan's husband John got lost trying to find it, too. Just sayin.)
    Lunch first, then the search. Too expensive, too glitzy, too casual - I felt like a Grimm's hybrid of Cinderella and Red Riding Hood. I insisted on a heel. Had to be a nude color. Had to be cool. Had to be something that I would wear again. Had to be cheap. On the way, we cruised through the Queen Victoria Building which still was dressed for Christmas. The tree is ornamented with Swarovski crystal, and stands three stories. At the top level, Santa has his palace (cage?) which is also adorned with Swarovski crystal. Shortly after this, we located the perfect shoes at a perfect price and went home to rest. I wasn't worried about the heals because public transport was running all night, and we were taking a cab to the performance.

Could you walk a mile in these shoes?

   Off we went. The cab got us to ... St. James station? OMG. That's almost to the museum. We could practically have walked from home. Well, everyone else was in the same boat. The police shut down traffic throughout a kilometer all the way around the harbor area. Everybody was on foot, nobody could bring in glass or alcohol. (Right.) We walked what felt like a mile, and another woman (who was wearing shoes even higher than mine with an even skinnier heel) and I decided that the cobblestone surface around the opera house had clearly been designed by a man who didn't stop to consider that women who attend the opera are most likely wearing heels.

After a rainy morning, a perfect evening in Sydney   

But we got there. First, a performance of the Sydney Opera and Ballet Orchestra with guest singers from the Sydney Opera doing favorites, including "Nessun Dorma" from Turandot.  My friends and I got the cheap seats - or I should say, the cheaper seats - at $220 to sit behind the orchestra. We could still hear because of these nifty acrylic rings, or clouds, which reflect sound back down to the stage and audience. And besides, I had fun following along with the timpani player to see if he got it right. (He did.) By the way, in case you're interested for the future, the Opera House offers several options to ring in the the new year, including a pre-dinner and an after party with VIP viewing vantage point.  The whole shootin' match will set you back as much as $1,100, but may be purchased a la carte, as we did. If I ever do it again, I'm upgrading my seat. We heard the symphony just fine, but, from our vantage point, the singing was overwhelmed by the orchestra.

View from the cheap(er) seats - before.

View from the cheap(er) seats - after.

    The show was em cee'd as well, by Jonathan Biggins, actor, director and general entertainment dog's body with a dry wit and fabulous timing, providing continuity and transition between the pieces. Who wants to sit through a dry recital on New Year's Eve? The performance started at 8 p.m., with an intermission just before nine o'clock so we could all pile out for the first fireworks display. My friends and I had discussed whether to stay for the midnight show or not, considering that there were crackers at nine. After the first pyrotechnics, though, we all looked at each other and agreed that the first show must be a warm-up. We trundled back in around 9:30 for the second half, which was finished off with confetti canons (twice, once for the first ending, once for the encore) and dancing girls doing the can-can (not kidding).  All in all, the show was great fun. We were out around 11:00, just enough time to get a couple chicken satay skewers and a drink and get settled for the real show.  I have to say that I've seen my share of fireworks displays, but absolutely nothing to compare with this. I was dutifully videoing on the iPhone, but after a point, I had to stop filming and just watch because I was so overwhelmed.
   According to the Sydney Herald-Sun, about 1.5 million people were watching from various vantage points around the harbor. About 2,500 of us were in the concert hall - and who knows how many clustered around the Circular Quay area. We stopped to have ice cream (eating it soothes aching feet) and waited for the crowd to thin out a bit, making it home around 2 a.m. I can't even begin to express how fabulous the evening was. I hope all of you have a great evening tonight, and a safe, prosperous and blessed 2012.