Signs In The Sky


Approach to Milson's Point Rail Station, North Shore Sydney City, 2am, 1 Jan 2009

New Year's Eve in Burwood, a Sydney suburb,, and I was fortunate to partake in white turkey, baby abalone and flat flounder. All done in Vietnamese- Chiuchao style. 2009 beckoned in just a few hours after dinner!

My car had casually passed by Wicks Road in North Ryde and we were curious about the crowds that had gathered in front of an oval. Then we spotted the top part of the Harbour Bridge beckoning in the distance, blocked by the tops of trees, and realised that they were all waiting for the 9pm fireworks. I got to chat with a friendly
Brit couple who had migrated to Oz not too long ago but appreciated being here.

At Artarmon train station, in Sydney's lower North Shore, many blue eyed youth were lining up for the train tickets. It was all very civil but what we did not realise then, and only found out in the wee hours of the New Year's, was that Sydney City Rail was offering free rides that evening. There was no sign or notice anyway of that at Artarmon. Most of us were just looking forward to see the Harbour Bridge fireworks.

My group alighted at Milson Point's station and settled in at Kirribilli. As you can imagine for Sydney, the crowd was as cosmopolitan and varied as can be - many
Spanish eyes; teenagers weeing against the wall; slinking low undies as fashionable gear; a cohort of Indian families; romantic couples, young and old;and so forth. All eyes were glued to the remarkable harbour side view on the east side of the coat hanger Bridge. A Chinese teenage guy came up to me to have a friendly chat; he was with his school mates and felt liberated and easy on this night of nights. The evening was still humid and warm and many used paper fans, waving away frenetically.

When the midnight firework display got going, what impressed me were the round pollen ball fireworks, horizontal sprays and sprouting fountain displays along the length of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Something very different offered - amazing when this was a tradition that has been carried out some twenty years, if not more.
What was even more fascinating were the artificially created lightning and thunder sequences created by the firework providers as a prelude to the main show.

The train ride back to my car in Artarmon proved to be both an eye opener and unwanted experience for my group. We waited an hour for the tsunami of passing people making their way from the bay up the slopes to the rail station and then thought it was safe to join them.

Once we were headed to Milson's Point Station itself, we took another 45 minutes before we actually got on to a train. What happened to the orderly system utilised at the Sydney Olympic Games? I felt like in an uncontrolled public scenario - I felt pressing back packs, sweaty patience and physical endurance as all of us endured the crush and push into the rail station. A Lebanese teenager used my shoulders to rest his arms when it got unbearable - this was unsolicited as I did not even know him, but there was no need to complain, and the only option was to share the experience, I guess.

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