New Year’s Eve – Watsons Bay, Sydney

Awoke early to all the early morning fishermen turning up to fish. A few parking spots came and went, but basically they never got cold. Took an early morning swim in the sea baths, ate breakfast and took a stroll up to the point. Midget was full of beans and thoroughly enjoyed playing with all the other dogs en-route interspersed with frequent swims on the beach.

Decided to give Doyle’s a spin for lunch, given it was the last day of the year and all… Booked for lunch. The que had already formed when we arrived and we took an upstairs inside table over looking the water. Can’t say we were all that impressed with the food. It was okay, but nothing to write home about. @ $105 for two fish & chips and two drinks, we didn’t think we’d be back there again! And what’s amazing is that they must have seated about 200 people and they were qued out the door!

Midget stayed with Martyn while we were at lunch. I think she wined the whole time we were away. Martyn was off for a sleep (since partying till 5am this morning) and we were knackered too…

Arrived at Martyn's in time for a quick dinner before the 9pm fireworks for the kids. There were 1.5 million people expectected to watch the fireworks that were to cost $5 million! They said it was just $4 per person! The early ones were fabulous to watch, and we thoroughly enjoyed our vantage point from his balcony.

The atmosphere at Watsons Bay was just as the general atmosphere of Watsons Bay, very relaxed. Apart from a few kids wanting to expend some anger on each other, the place was great fun to be, and a whole lot less stressful than right in the city. It was alcohol free and closed off till 1am so once you got in, that is if you got in, you couldnt leave till 1am. No toilets or otherwise. We did see on TV that there were tent sites being sold at a good vantage point close to the city for $300 for the night. They showed pictures of rows of little tents along the foreshore. It was really funny. We certainly wern't as close, but it was the very relaxed and friendly atmosphere that made it feel like home, only the most amazing fireworks I'd ever seen.

It was hard to get good pictures at night, but this is the best we had...

the view from Martyn's balcony

from the 9pm fireworks