NEW YEAR IN SYDNEY 30th DEC-3rd JAN 2016

As if the year hadn’t been exciting enough, we decided to welcome the New Year in by experiencing the fireworks on Sydney Harbour. I’ve always shied away from New Year celebrations. I don’t like crowds and I especially don’t like drunk crowds. We stayed at the Shangri-La when we were in Sydney for our September wedding so we knew that the views of the Harbour from this hotel in the Rocks area of Sydney was spectacular. Sydney hotels with harbour views not only charge exorbitant prices for New Year Eve bookings, but they also have a minimum four night stay. For us, this was to be a once in a life time experience, so we took it on the chin.

If guests weren’t sufficiently gouged, restaurants overlooking the harbour were charging up to $1,000 a head for the privilege of spending the evening there. That was just one bridge too far for me and I came up with the idea of having a picnic meal in our room with gourmet items purchased from the David Jones food hall. It was absolutely delightful! We had wide window seats facing the water and from there we could see the throngs of people below and more importantly, the truly glorious and impressive fire works.

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It was a night that I will never forget!

We took the train to Turramurra to visit my parents and to wish them a Happy New Year and then took the ferry over to Manly for the best value sightseeing tour that Sydney has to offer. Not to mention some of the best fish and chips in Sydney!

For Christmas I had bought a special surprise for Barry. A trip via seaplane from Rose Bay to Berowra Waters to the Berowra Waters Inn for a 7 course degustation lunch.

The food was amongst the best I have ever eaten. The restaurant is only accessible by water. If you don’t want to go by seaplane, a boat can get you there from Berowra. You can find out more from berowrawatersinn.com

If this wasn’t the most wonderful few days of a life time, there was even more to come! We managed to procure tickets to see Geoffrey Rush in his performance of King Lear, one of the greatest theatrical performances that I have ever had the good fortune to witness.