Counting down NYE 2011 in Sydney-The longest 16.5 hours in my life

This is probably one of the most ridiculous thing I've ever done in my life

For the sake of New Year's Eve fireworks in one of the most iconic place in the world, I spent more than a half day waiting.....

31 Dec 2010

07.00 am : me and a bunch of friends caught a bus from Newtown, heading to Macquarie's Point. I know that place is the most wanted NYE spot, so we better be hurry up

The streets were quiet that morning though..., not so many vehicles or people around, so I thought we must be quite early :p

7.30 am : arrive at Art Gallery road, oh my gosh...., there are hundreds, and I guess almost a thousand of people already queuing :(. Geez, what time did they get there? I bet they spent overnight, and slept there. We joined the queue which already overflowed in the park nearby

7.30 - 10.00 am : queuing in the park, playing some board games with friends, eating, and people watching, just for killing the time.

10.00 am : the gate was finally open, and we started moving...yaaaayyy...., but it's still a long way to go to the spot.

12.00 pm : finally we got a nice spot, just across the opera house and Sydney harbour bridge. hmmmm....limited space available, so we're lucky enough to get one. Not the perfect spot I intended, but not bad either

But then......

heeeyyyy it's still 12 hrs to go for the NYE, what should we do?!!!!!!

We can't leave that spot, otherwise people will take it. Oh...and I forgot to mention that it was in the middle of summer, so yeaaah....it was damn hot. The sun is waaay too strong..., and we're all outside. Thanks to the umbrella, my best friend that time :), although the sunburn was still inevitable :(.

I couldn't recall what we were doing from that midday to midnight. Basically we're just sitting under the umbrella (while most people were sunbathing and wish to get their skin tanned). No, thanks..., we, Indonesians are tanned enough, haha :D

I never counted down from 'hours' to the NYE. normally we just counted it down from 60 second. And so...for the first time in my life, I let the 12 hours count down began :p

sleeping, eating, chatting, went to the toilet, then eating again, sleeping, chatting, and then went to the toilet again.  Hahaha, quite boring, eh?! but when I remember it now, there were some funny moments with my friends :). The only thing that tested our endurance were the SUN and the HEAT.

8.15 pm : finally the sun went down, and everything began to cool down. peace on earth....

9.00 pm : the teaser fireworks began....I started to snap my camera and got few shots, but then my battery was low, so I have to save it for the midnight.

Finally......, the one and foremost long awaited moment come......

00.00 am New Year's Eve fireworks...., yaaaaaayyyyy.....

It was a 12 minutes fireworks which has been waited for 16.5 hours....., so it better be damn good.

Was it worth it? hmmmm,,,,I don't know

It was very beautiful and breath taking indeed

But If somebody ask me whether I want to do it again...., no thanks.... :)

Unless I can get that VIP ticket so no more 16.5 hrs waiting...:D
Despite the fact that I wasted my 16.5 hrs time, it was a nice experience though...

Anyway...., Happy New Year everyone.....

here are some pics I managed to capture.