2024 has arrived, and we had a blast ending 2023. Giddy left early NYE and said he was going gnoming. He said it was his turn this century to act as a guardian of the Watchtower and protect homes and gardens from evil spirits. I looked up there is no law prohibiting gnoming itself, but I don’t understand the part about bears and bees. To me, it is some kind of card game, but don’t expect me to clarify how that pertains to protecting against evil spirits.
Bonnie and I went to dinner at the restaurant “Infinity” in the Sydney Tower in downtown Sydney. The Sydney tower is 1014 ft above central business district in Sydney.
This was located approximately six blocks from our hotel Sydney Harbor Quay Marriott. The transformation of the harbor area was amazing. Police barricades and fences have closed off the harbor and Quay areas from all vehicle traffic. Funneling the crowds, an expectation of 1M+ people, away from side streets and directly through Sydney.
The Sydney Tower / Infinity in Sydney harbor served a first class meal to end 2023. Oysters, kangaroo tartar, scallops, cod, wagu beef and dessert along with after dinner cheese and crackers and small sweets. The dinner was paired with a wonderful array of wine, sake and cognac. Our meal started at 7:15 and ended just in time for fireworks.
This was the second time we were able to see the Sydney fireworks with first back in 2010. Watching the fireworks from a Birdseye view of the Sydney harbor was great. We had only a partial view of the Sydney bridge, but the fireworks were all along the harbor and fantastic from every angle. There are two venues of fireworks with the first at 9:00 pm and the second at 12:00. The first venue lasted approximately eight minutes and the latter venue was approximately twelve minutes.
It was amazing to see all the boats within the harbor and surrounding areas to watch the fireworks plus various larger boats that were lit up with changing-colored lights. I lost count after 300 boats and that was just one area of the harbor area.
After the fireworks we headed back towards the Quay where our hotel was located. As we walked down Pitt Street, there were at least 100,000 people walking towards us. We were bucking the throng of people. We finally made it to the hotel around 1 AM and crashed. We haven’t been up that late in some time. I heard Giddy come in around 4ish, and when we woke Monday morning, he was snoring in his travel bag.
A late breakfast and then went for walk along the harbor. As being true Deutsch descendants from Lancaster County, we were searching for our traditional New Year’s Day dinner of pork and sauerkraut. Sydney may not be known for many German ethic food, but we found an old Hofbräuhaus in the Rocks area of Sydney. The establishment was in one of the stone buildings used long ago for dock storage. The Munich was serving pork knuckle, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes and Palmer Weiss beer. What an excellent way to spend New Years Day along with sunny skies and temps in the high 70’s.
Have a great 2024 and best wishes for health and happiness
Jim, Bonnie and Giddy