Another thing ticked off the bucket list - in Sydney, Australia

It's been 3 years and that's long enough between visits... so here I am back in Sydney again at the start of my visit back here to Australia.

I'm staying with a friend who lives in Clovelly - and her place couldn't be more lovely!  Right across the street from the beach and a 20 minute bus ride from the city centre and harbour, with the closest bus stop literally in front of her building.  The absolute perfect location to get over jet-lag and acclimatize to the Southern Hemisphere and summer weather.

Clovelly is also in the middle of a gorgeous coastal walk that starts south of here and goes up to Bondi.  This walk, from Clovelly to Bondi is how I spent one afternoon.

This is Clovelly Bay and Beach and the yellow building just behind the trees is where my friend lives

 Along the coastal walk from Clovelly to Bondi

 Bronte Beach - along the coastal walk

A cormorant along the way

Bondi Beach and pool

And how could I possibly be in Sydney on New Year's Eve, and not see the fireworks from the Harbour Bridge?  I couldn't - so at 10:00am on December 31st I headed to the Royal Botanic Gardens to stake out a vantage point as close to the end of Mrs. Macquarie's Point as I could get.  Joining me for the day/night were two friends, and luck was definitely on my side and I ended up with a spot on the ground directly in front of one of the firework barges and with views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Two aircraft carriers in the Sydney Harbour that day

Part of the evenings festivities included a demonstration by the tug boats that work on the harbour,

and once it was dark there were lovely light displays as well as a very cool "Parade of Lights" which involved many of the harbour boats and ferries, parading around the harbour outlined in only white lights.  The effect was absolutely beautiful!

And then it was fireworks time!  Of course there's no way a small digital camera could possibly do justice to these fireworks, so you'll just have to believe me when I saw it was absolutely spectacular!! It is as great, and better, than anything you've ever seen on television!

And now, "seeing the New Year's Eve fireworks from the Sydney Harbour Bridge" has been ticked off my bucket list.   And depending on where you live you might appreciate this picture of our midnight picnic - remembering of course that we were out in a public park.

A quiet day on New Year's Day, so I did a little more of the coastal walk, this time in the other direction from Clovelly to Coogee Beach.

 New Year's Day - the Australian way

Coogee Beach

And before I leave Sydney I figured I'd better, at least once, go into the city Centre and spend a little bit of time people watching, and taking the odd photo or two, at the Sydney Harbour.

Sydney Town Hall

 The Queen Victoria Building -  built in 1898