A Little Celebration…Fireworks, Resolutions and Noosa Beach
Happy New Year! So, the question on many minds: How were the fireworks over Sydney Harbor?
Well, your guess is as good as mine!
I actually didn’t make it that far down the coast in time to do the big celebration – plus, it was recommended that I skip it since I am still traveling solo (my friend skipped out on coming here for the holidays so I was left alone) and the city would be soooo overcrowded and pricey (finding accommodations was becoming a nightmare!).
And making it to Sydney for New Years would have meant scurrying my way down the East Coast of Oz instead of a more leisurely pace to stop at all of the hot spots for backpackers.
Even taking Sydney out of my plans I am speeding down the coast way to fast for my liking, I could have spent my two months in Australia just traveling between Cairns and Sydney and filled my days with endless activities.
At this point though, South East Asia is less than a week away (holy cow! where did the time go?!) and I am making my way rapidly through Oz on the supremely efficient Greyhound Australia. As efficient as it is, let me assure you that Greyhound Australia is just about as inhospitable as Greyhound back in the states!
I made the poor choice of planning two 14-hour overnighters on the Greyhound buses as a way to save cash on accommodation…didn’t work out as planned because I invariably spend most of the next day napping at the hostel.
Anyhow, I digress. I spent New Years Eve in the quaint and small town of Noosa (very laid back, eco-friendly, with organic food stores on the corners…basically my idea of heaven).
Two friendly women I met on camping out on Fraser Island were also passing the night in Noosa so we fired up one of the public barbeques near Sunshine Beach and cooked up a storm. The two girls (from Germany) cooked up a truly fantastic potato salad made with vinegar, bullion cubes, and oil – it was, in a word, fantastic.
After the BBQ we took the bus over a couple of towns to the harbor, uncorked a bottle of champagne, and watched the fireworks display. In Noosa proper there were some parties raging into the wee hours of the night…I headed home about 3am – and while some in the group razed me for going home early, I, on the other hand think that 3am is a totally respectable time to call it quits!
And you may wonder what I am resolving to change this year: I will listen to what people are saying rather than waiting for my turn to speak.
So, on a side note for my readers, the blog is way behind right now and I have some really fun pictures and stories to post from my diving trip on the Great Barrier Reef to camping in the Australian outback to see Uluru. So, check back frequently this week because I am going to try and play catch-up before I head to my next destination on my RTW backpacking trip – Thailand here I come!
