| Fragmenty artykułów z Sydney Morning Herald: One and a half million revellers watched the annual 9pm (AEST) extravaganza, featuring a stunning 10-minute barrage of fireworks launched from barges, city buildings and the Harbour Bridge. Earlier, revellers on Sydney foreshore enjoyed a traditional Aboriginal smoking ceremony to cleanse the area of negative spirits and ready party-goers for the year ahead.
Tourist Manuel Forgiarini said he planned to have the night of his life. "I come from a small town in the north of Italy so we don't have these kinds of fireworks. It's usually just some small party with family," the 26-year-old said."I've always wanted to come here... We're just going to keep drinking until the police come and take our drinks away."
Security guards in yellow vests have spent the day checking bags at turnstiles blocking off the Opera House and Mrs Macquarie's Chair."I've never been here before," said software engineer Neda Hillyer, who moved to Australia from the US with her husband Sati Hillyer three months ago.
"We're pretty stoked. I've never celebrated New Year's Eve with 1.5 million people."
With her parents visiting from Los Angeles, Mrs Hillyer brought along a bottle of shiraz, unaware that organisers are not allowing spectators to bring in their own alcohol.
Mrs Macquarie's Chair, with a capacity of 20,000, is the biggest venue along the harbour foreshore, followed by the Tarpeian Precinct on the western side of The Domain, which can hold 6000.
Jennie, a software engineer from earthquake-damaged Christchurch in New Zealand, visited Circular Quay with her 14-year-old daughter in the early afternoon.But after seeing the crowds in town, she was glad to have a friend at McMahons Point, on the northern side of the harbour, offer her waterview apartment for them to see the show.
"I'm big-time excited. I've never seen them before," Jennie said.
15 months of planning - SMH
The man running Sydney's biggest annual show, New Year's Eve fireworks director Fortunato Foti, admits to a few nerves before the night.
"There's 1.5 million people watching on the foreshore, probably the same on TV, and a worldwide audience – probably not a good look if nothing went off," he said.
But even if Sydney's record-breaking wet December continues and dampens things for revellers, rain on New Year's Eve won't hurt the fireworks. "Once the fireworks show starts, whether it's raining or not it goes off. It's a bit miserable for the punters, but that's another story," he said.
Mr Foti's 15-strong crew are now putting the finishing touches on 100,000 fireworks in the Foti family's Leppington warehouse, and from December 22 a team of 45 will begin installing them around the bridge, harbour and city rooftops.
Precautions must be taken to keep the fireworks dry while loading, but once the show starts, rain is irrelevant, Mr Foti said.
smh.com.au
More than seven tonnes of pyrotechnics will erupt into the night sky during the 9pm and midnight firework displays.
That includes 11,000 shells and 25,000 shooting comets which will be fired from 130 different locations, including the Harbour Bridge, seven CBD buildings and seven barges in the water.
Those fireworks were put on display on Thursday, laid out in a series of barges at a dock in Rozelle, prior to being shipped down the harbour to the bridge and primed for ignition.
Sydney Mayor Clover Moore said this year's celebrations would be carbon neutral and would generate $156 million for the local economy.
"It's costing the city $6 million and we're providing eight hours of entertainment for the Sydney community. That's $4 per person," she added.
from SMH
I jeszcze specjalny dodatek z powitania Nowego Roku na słynnej sydnejskiej plaży Bondi Beach. Foto Tomek Koprowski, of course!
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