Sydney celebrates New Year with fireworks show

http://www.timesofearth.com/Interview/?NT=1&nid=15319 Sydney - With an explosion of colour, Sydney led the world into the new decade with the promise of blue skies ahead.

One billion people around the globe watched on television as bright blue fireworks lit up the city to mark the theme of Awaken the Spirit with the emphasis on "soul and renewal".

The celebrations marked the end of the toughest decade since WWII, marred by disasters, the war on terror and a global financial meltdown.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Australians were "a tough lot".

Mr Rudd said families were still dealing with the impact of the devastating Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, after-effects of the floods in North Queensland and Northern NSW and the cyclones and bushfires which struck Western Australia.

"For many Australians, 2009 was a very difficult year," Mr Rudd said in his New Year message to the nation.

The Prime Minister said Australia was a practical nation when it came to doing what had to be done. "And we come together to meet a common challenge ... there'll be plenty of those in 2010," he said.
Late yesterday, the US Embassy in Indonesia said it had received warning of a New Year terrorist attack from the governor of the resort island of Bali, the scene of two shocking bombings targeting Westerners in the past decade.

"There is an indication of an attack to Bali tonight," it said.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs played down the reports.

"We understand this is a general warning. Indonesian security forces are on heightened alert this holiday season, as has been the case in past years," a spokeswoman said.

Around Sydney Harbour, the most popular vantage points at Blues Point, Circular Quay and Mrs Macquaries Point had reached near capacity unusually early at 7.30pm with many families staking their claim early in the day. However police were concerned as the numbers cramming into The Rocks grew with few people leaving after the 9pm fireworks. There were more than 17,000 people at a capacity Mrs Macquarie's chair.

Many got in the mood by wearing blue. Sydney New Year's Eve creative director Rhoda Roberts said the colour reflected Sydney's spirit which was a perfect match for the stunning blue Harbour and summer sky.

"My Aboriginal ancestors believe we need to awaken the spirit each year to stir up the spirit within our land, water, sky and, of course, people. It celebrates the arrival of the New Year, it celebrates new beginnings and, most importantly, it celebrates unity," Ms Roberts said.

On boats on the Harbour, at hotels and friend's houses, 1.5 million people watched the midnight display, its centrepiece hanging from the Sydney Harbour Bridge, a fiery ring of red and gold around a blue circle.

"I think it is something that the people of Sydney, and the people of NSW, wear with great pride that, when the rest of the world starts to celebrate the new year, they look here first and we give them the best show on earth in the best city on earth," NSW Premier Kristina Keneally said.

From the heights of Thredbo to the tiny outpost of Cameron's Corner, from the hippy haven of Byron Bay to the B&S Ball at Holbrook in the state's rural southwest and fireworks at Albury, they partied. Three-quarters of them were hoping it would lead to more than the start of a new decade.

According to a survey of 1615 people by RedHotPie.com.au, a dating site, three-quarters of revellers were hoping to "hook up" during the end-of-year celebrations.

At the corner of NSW, Queensland and South Australia, Cameron Corner Store owner Fenn Miller and a few dozen travellers and campers marked the end of the noughties three times, once in each state and over three time zones.

In Sydney a woman aged in her 40s sustained a minor head injury when she fell between two vessels into the Harbour and was met by an ambulance at Man o' War Steps near the Opera House.
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[Petewall003]

the thing I find with massive firework displays is the amount of smoke makes it just look bad, awesome celebration though

[canon67]

@seaEagle89 Sydney Harbour Bridge straddles the confluence of Parramatta and Lane Cove rivers before it empties into the Tasman sea.

[seaEagle89]

@canon67 there is no river along the bridge it the Sea side Melbourne has a river and Brisbane

[sirrington]

Heaven on Earth

[poluboyar]

WOW !!! FAntastic !!!!!!!!!

[gepe2112]

Fantastic, that's celebrate

[angelversetti1992]

Living in some godforsaken sleepy town in England, it makes me sad that I'm not there celebrating. Someday, I'll go to Sydney to celebrate New Year there.

Awesome video. Happy New Year 2010!

[canon67]

I was there with my family watching the fireworks along the river. It was the best ever! I liked the multicolored explosions best.