by Sarah Mayberry
I'm not sure how old I was when they banned the retail sale of fireworks. Old enough to be disappointed, that's for sure! I know that there are terrible, horrible injuries every year when fireworks go wrong, and as an adult I have a very healthy respect (okay, fear) of them, but I still love watching them paint the night sky. Which is why I was so very excited when we were able to celebrate New Years Eve in Sydney this year.
For a long time, it's been my dream to see the spectacular New Years Eve fireworks on Sydney Harbour first hand, not just on TV. Usually they are astonishing, and this year when we decided we would be up north at the right time of the year, I started shopping around for a hotel room that would offer us a fireworks vantage point. Well, I needn't have bothered. Everything with a view is booked out years in advance, and what was available was so ridiculously overpriced I couldn't bring myself to stomach it. Then our friends came to the rescue. They have friends with an apartment with harbour and bridge and Opera House views... and they were pretty sure they could wangle us an invite to their friends' annual New Years Eve party.
There was a tense day or two while we waited to see if we were "in". And then we got the word - yes! So, on December 31, we turned up to Jimmy and Sue's apartment in Potts Point, Sydney, and took the elevator to the 15th floor and looked out at the view and knew we were in for an awesome night. We could see half the harbour, the Opera House, the city and the bridge. As panoramas go, it doesn't get much better.
When the fireworks came at midnight, they were amazing, and we had a ringside seat. I took some photos and a few videos, but unfortunately most of my photos were wobbly. There were a couple of good ones, however, so I'm sharing them with you today. And a video, which has some pretty spectacular stuff happening toward the end, launched from the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
So, that's one big thing crossed off my bucket list. A pretty cool, thing, too! What about you - are you a fireworks fan? Or are you more of a take-it-or-leave it person? Share with us your best fireworks experience to be in the running for a copy of my most recent Super Romance, All They Need.
39 comments:
My aunt lives in Balmain, so a few times we’ve walked to the water at the end of her street to see the fireworks in Sydney – we were there at the end of the 2000 Olympics when they had big fireworks too.
I think you were lucky to be in a private home. It’s horribly crowded and pushy around the water at that time!
My favourite New Year spot is Paris. How do people in France always manage to make things look that extra bit nice?!
My dad's family has a small cottage on a small lake in a small valley in New York state. We go there for the 4th of July every year. The lake is tiny enough that people swim across it.
Anyway, several of the families around the lake shoot off fireworks. By dusk the lake is ringed by bonfires and kids start running around with sparklers. We line our chairs up along the road and watch the show. It's pretty amazing to be in this quiet little valley with phenomenal fireworks and to hear all the clapping and cheering from other cottages. It's a small town romance come to life.
One year my aunt was serving dishes of blueberries, strawberries, and vanilla ice cream to the family. She started wondering why she needed so many dishes when she realized some strangers from down the road had lined up and were enjoying the dessert.
Loved your pictures. I replayed the bridge firework section of the video a few times. Very cool.
I loved the video, Sarah! Thank you. A few years ago, I drove for six hours to join my daughter in Ottawa for Canada Day. The number of people flocking to Parliament Hill, where the fireworks are held, was just too big, so we returned to her apartment on the 11th floor of a building in the suburbs. When we heard the fireworks start, we went out onto her balcony on the very slim off-chance that we might see one or two. When we turned sideways, we had a fabulous, unimpeded view of the ENTIRE spectacle and it was out of this world. We felt pretty lucky that night to have been able to have such a spectacular view.
My father used to light fireworks when we were little--everyone on the street did. I really miss them now. I like anything that brings a community together in celebration!
I really enjoy fireworks and have seen some pretty impressive displays. The Calgary Stampede puts on a fairly big display each night of the ten day show. The fireworks at the closing and opening ceremonies of the 1988 Olympics here in Calgary were pretty great as well. We have been to a display called Thunder in the Valley in the Crowsnest Pass in Alberta a few times. I really like how the fireworks echo around the mountains.
This video is so cool--thanks for sharing it! My favorite fireworks experience? Hands down, 4th of July in Boston, Mass. (My home state.) :)
In Wisconsin, the Summerfest (billed as the world's largest music festival)has their Big Bang Fireworks. They are awesome especially since you can sit just across from the small island where they are launched and watch them burst in the sky and reflect on the water. So pretty. So crowded but fun for many folk.
Sarah, thank you for the video! What a fun way to kick off the day. :-) Crowds aren't my favorite thing so we haven't been to a fireworks display in a while, but I'd be willing to rough it if Sonya would agree to take me to Paris... :-)
I am not all that big into fireworks but I do watching them sometimes. I think its more fun when you do them yourself though.
How awesome is that? Thanks for sharing!
I like fireworks too, and we often go downtown to the river in our town when they do them for the 4th of July and New Years. Haven't gone in a while mostly because my boys want to do their own. They're 12 and 9 years so primed for blowing up ant beds. LOL.
I've not spent New Years in a big way in a long time. Maybe one day I won't be so exhausted from Christmas that I'll go somewhere fun.
We have a fireworks competition in Vancouver every summer called the Celebration of Light. Different countries compete for the best fireworks set to music (which you can listen to on a portable radio as you watch). They are quite fantastic but my favorite fireworks are the New Year's Eve fireworks in Manila.
We can still buy fireworks around Guy Fawkes night here in NZ, there's something about lighting your own pyrotechnics that's thrilling. All the fun goes out of it when you're a supervising parent of a teen though...Not too close, follow the safety instructions, stand back.
I'd love to see Sydney's NY display one day, they're amazing.
Hi Sarah!I love the video and picture of the fireworks. So pretty. I have always loved fireworks. Every year for the fourth of July my husband buys a bunch and puts on a show for us. One of my neighbors also does a show for all the people in our neighborhood the weekend before the fourth. That man is crazy. He spends weeks making platforms for the fireworks to sit on. He must spend a couple of thousand dollars at least on all this. Then he spends about two hours straight putting on a show with music and everything. We don't do that much but we have fun.
Have a wonderful day!
Sonya, you've just given me something new for my bucket list - new year's eve in Paris! That sounds fabulous. I know what you mean about the pushy crowds - I tried once to see the fireworks on foot a Circular Quay and was overwhelmed by all the armpits and elbows (I'm short!). We retreated. But this year was very civilised.
Hi Ellen. I had such vivid pictures in my head when you were describing your 4th of July celebrations! Sounds idyllic. My little video doesn't come even close to doing justice to the display - I was mostly staring in awe when all the good stuff happened! But it's a little taste of what it and the view were like.
Hi Mary. Your Canadian view sounds like our Millennium new years eve. We hadn't made any plans, even though it was supposed to be a big deal, but at the last minute I booked a hotel room in the city (Melbourne, not Sydney!) and we went in for the night. Well, they gave us a room fronting onto the Yarra River, and one of the pontoons with the fireworks on it was moored right in front of us. It was like a private display, just for us - and completely unexpected. It's always lovely when things work out like that, eh?
Hi Kaelee. Thunder in the Valley sounds like it's right up my alley! I love the idea of the explosions echoing off the mountains. How fabulous and spectacular.
Hi Cathryn, I bet you guys get some amazing displays for 4th of July. And it's always special when it's your home town putting on a show!
Hi Mary. I've never really thought about the water element of fireworks, but it makes sense from both an incendiary point of view as well as the "reflecting pool" angle. We weren't close enough to see the water from where we were, but I bet it must have looked great, reflecting all the fireworks. I think the sort of display you and Ellen have described - outside of the city, on a lake etc - sounds like an amazing contrast between nature and man's crazy love for pyrotechnics!
Kathy, you and me both! I'd be in Paris in a heartbeat. I'm not a huge fan of crowds, either, so the apartment view with a small party vibe was perfect for me. I think we probably missed out on some of the atmosphere that you'd get if you were down with all the peeps, but I can live with that. As I mentioned in one of my other responses, I am perfect elbow and armpit height, so crowds are not my favourite thing.
Hi Virginia. When we were living in New Zealand we were able to buy fireworks for Guy Fawkes night. I'm not sure if they are still selling them - there were moves afoot to ban then since, every year like clockwork someone did something incredibly dangerous with them - but we would buy a little swag full and then set them off in our backyard. Was fantastic fun!!
Hi Liz. Generally speaking, I think New Years is one of the hardest holidays to get right. There's so much pressure for it to be HUGE. When we were driving back through the city after our big night we saw a lot of very, very drunk people doing stupid things. Personally, I'd rather not get mixed up in that, so we tend to do small things for New Years (the year before last we did nothing!) rather than get sucked into all that.
Hi Linda. A Fireworks competition! That sounds fantastic. My husband LOVES fireworks - he would be all over that! I shall have to see if I can find some footage of the Manila fireworks. Thanks for the tip.
Hi Karina. I posted above wondering if you can still buy them in NZ. My man loved it when we were living there because he does love things that explode. We would every carefully select rockets and whatnot, then he would hoarde them until just the right moment before setting them off. When we lived in Auckland I can remember that most warm summer nights could be relied upon for the crack and whistle of a firework being send skyward.
Alina, it sounds like your neighbour has found his thing. I bet he plans it all year! How fun for him - and you guys get to reap the benefits. Lots of fun for your family to be able to put on your own show.
Sounds like an extrodinary view with or without the fireworks.
I think I was 12 or 13 when I went camping with my Dad during 4th of July. We saw in the back of his open truck, laid down on blankets and someone blasted the radio with Bruce Springsteen and the firework show went directly with the music. So peaceful!
I would love to read a latest copy of your book! kristidavis at gmail.com
When I was young we'd visit our grandparents who lived on a farm in Colorado and my grandfather would buy fireworks for us ....this was before all the laws and restrictions went into effect on purchasing fireworks....of course there was lots of wide open spaces for them to be set off without burning anything...I think those are my best memories of enjoying fireworks.
JFWisherd(at)aol(dot)com
I love to watch fireworks and as kids we used to set them off all the time. This was the first New Years that all fireworks were banned on O'ahu. Luckily you can still set them off on other islands. The big aerials were banned years ago from all the islands, but somehow people still get them and set them off. There's been injuries and fires and the smoke gets so bad that people with respitory problems have a hard time. I still think it's grossly unfair to ban all fireworks though. 1 day a yr, you would think people could take precautions so that we the fireworks could continue! I love to watch them go off to bring in the new year.
Rogenna, it was. An amazing, gazillion dollar view! I can't imagine what it would be like waking up to it every day. I suppose it would eventually become humdrum, but still...
Hi Kristi. Bruce Springsteen and fireworks from the back of a pick up. That sounds pretty damn awesome. What a great memory.
Hey Jackie. Sounds like you have some great memories of home pyrotechnics, too. It's a shame they had to regulate to stop the injuries - it was the same here in Australia, too.
Hey Snookie. Yes, surely there's a happy balance between public enjoyment and personal safety/comfort. For example, it would be nuts to set off fireworks anywhere in the bush in Australia due to bushfire risk, but there are plenty of places where it is safe. Unfortunately, there were some illegal fireworks sold in Melbourne this year and one man died after they exploded in his face, and someone else lost some fingers... I'm not sure what the answer is, but history has shown that prohibition doesn't work for anything, really. Perhaps education is the key...
What a lovely blog--especially for those of us who don't usually see fireworks displays until July 4th. Fireworks were legal in South Dakota when I lived there. I saw my share of foolish behavior with them--dueling Roman candles, for example. And when I was a kid, my great-uncle tossed a cherry bomb near a cat, thinking he's scare it. But the poor thing lost an eye, instead. It was a harrowing experience, imprinted in my brain for more years than I want to count.
But I do love to see the bright lights of a professional fireworks show!
My favourite fireworks was the first time I'd seen daytime fireworks at Expo 86 in Vancouver.
Hi Deb. Ugh, the cat incident does sound harrowing. How sad and scary for you all - especially the cat. Your grandfather must have felt terrible afterward. I can see how it would give you a great fondness for professional pyrotechnics!
hi Chey. I don't think I have ever seen a daylight fireworks exhibition. What an interesting idea. I do remember going to see ABBA when I was a little girl when they came to Melbourne, and at the end of the concert, while they were still singing the encore, a fireworks display went off behind the outdoor arena where they were playing. We all turned to watch for a few minutes, and when we turned back, ABBA had snuck off! I still remember that diversionary tactic, all these years later...
I love fireworks, from a distance. Too loud close up. Where we live we can see any celebratory fireworks set off down town from the comfort of our living room.
Marybelle, an armchair vantage point is not to be sneezed at! Your set up sounds perfect.
I love watching beautiful fireworks displays. Every year in April we have one of the world's largest fireworks displays called Thunder Over Louisville. It's the first official event in the Kentucky Derby Festival leading up to, of course, the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May.
We have several bridges that span the Ohio River between Louisville, Kentucky, and southern Indiana. Most of the fireworks are launched from twin barges in the river (launching matching sets of firework coordinated to music), and some cascade over one of the bridges, representing the Falls of the Ohio thanks to which our city was settled.
Preceding the fireworks display, there is an airshow with all kinds of formation flying and precision parachuting. It's quite a day (and creates quite a traffic snafu coming out of the downtown area when the fireworks ends).
Post a Comment