Happy Australia Day!

Happy Australia Day from Down Under (Jan 26)! Yesterday I took part in Sydney's festivities and definitely saw some amazing stuff! The plan was to take in some of the downtown activities, as opposed to going to the crazy beaches. I managed to make it downtown in time to see the end of the Ferry race, which was really cute! From the Opera House, I managed to see three decorated ferries race for the finish line, the Harbour Bridge, while a HUGE brigade of little leisure yachts and sailing boats following around them! The normal ferries which were carrying passengers were stuck in Circular Quay for a bit, as the traffic was just insane in the harbour!

After the ferry races, I enjoyed an Aussie BBQ, having a sausage hotdog for lunch in Hyde Park! There were a lot of concerts going on around the park, so it was easy to just walk around and take it all in. After lunch, I made my way to Darling Harbour, the plan was to be here to see the amazing fireworks at the end of the day, but in the meantime, I enjoyed the multicultural show that was going on during the day, and had dinner along one of the many restaurants along the pier.

Luckily there was enough cloud to say protected, and when the sun did finely stay out without a cloud in the sky, I found a good shady spot on bleachers that me and Patrick kinda staked out for the rest of the day. There was a cute boat parade leading up to the final show, and we saw one of the big Qantas A380 jumbo jets do a low fly by of Sydney Harbour to mark the occasion. I had my little Australian flags, (given to us for free) and also wore my tacky 'fly-swatter' outback hat lol. I bought two of these the other day to wear for the occasion, I thought they looked pretty cute :)

The final fireworks show was spectacular! The governer and premier of NSW made their entrance, followed by the newly inducted citizens of Australia who were introduced. Following them were the winners of Australian of the Year, Senior Aussie of the Year, and the Junior of the Year. I recognized the Junior who was Jessica Watson, the 16 year old girl who sailed around the Southern Ocean solo on her yacht the 'Pink Lady' last year (which I photographed last time I was here in Sydney). Pretty cool! The military band played some famous tunes afterwards and were really good! Then the fireworks finally started!...

I think this was the best fireworks show I've seen set to music for free! And so up close too! A regatta of sailboats were first lit up, and sailed in circles around the harbour stage and firework stands. Music played and then the fireworks started which too my surprise, also fired off a couple of the huge office buildings too! It was really impressive! Here's a link to all the photos and videos of the fireworks show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/neptune_v32/sets/72157625921212878/

All in all I think I had a great insight into Australian Day!