New Year's Eve

Well, today is New Year's Eve, and we are SO looking forward to the harbour fireworks tonight! These are supposed to be some of the best (if not THE best) in the world, and we are going to be right in the center of the action. Just as I'm getting geared up to stake our our spot to watch the festivities, Chris realizes that we have neglected to do something of urgent importance - get our visas stamped into our passports. We both frantically look up where and how to do this, and find that the Department of Immigration is about a 25 minute walk away. We strap on our running shoes and decide to jog through Chinatown, which is on the way. Chinatown seems more, em cosmopolitan, than others I have seen, but it seems authentic - everything is written in Chinese, so who am I to judge? Sydney is a glitzy city. Only later do I find out that were weren't really in Chinatown, the heart of which runs through Dixon street, but only on the outskirts. Phew. I can't wait to see the real thing.) The visa stamping goes smoothly and we're back home at around 4:00, ready to gear up for some fun! Chris's co-worker Jeff, another American who is working in Melbourne, is in town and he and his wife, Melissa, come over to our place. I spread out an assortment of treats (ever the hostess) and the boys bring back pizzas to cook. We manage to not set off the smoke alarm, which is an amazing feat, considering the oven is caked with burnt bits. Jeff and Melissa take turns fanning the alarm with couch cushions, which seems to do the trick. There is a steep fine for setting of the smoke alarm in our building. After an intense game of Set and spontaneous dancing, we all head down to the harbour to watch the fireworks. Chris found a tiny park on our jog through the Rocks the other day and thought that it would be the perfect place to watch the action - we get there and were amazed to see that hardly anyone else was there! Compared to the other hot spots in the city like Mrs. Macquarie's Chair, this place is deserted. The show was unbelievable and afterwards we head to the Lord Nelson for some more merriment. We met some Sydneysiders, Susan and David (our first Aussie friends!) and then head home to collapse.