Day 117 – New Year’s Day

The plan for today was to carry on the festivities down at Cremorne with a picnic by the sea pool. We arrived as the clean up was still progressing; it was like walking through a rubbish dump. With credit to the clean up company the sea front was cleared not long after we’d set up our spot. People started arriving and I got to meet and make more friends as we enjoyed drinks and snacks. The sun was out in full force but the shade from the tree overhead made it a comfortable temperature.

Unfortunately the pool didn’t look to clean and although some people braved the murky water a few of us clambered over to the rocks for a swim in the harbour. The spot was unreal, I was swimming with nothing obstructing my view of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge but a few boats.

The day continued with drinks, swims, food and good conversation until the sun started to set. For my last night in Sydney it couldn’t have been more picture perfect. The city was a black silhouette, a feather of cloud spread out across the harbour separating the red and gold colour of the  sun from the blue sky in front of it. From the other side of the harbour the sound of the New Year’s Day festival grew louder and before I knew it it was dark.

Saying my goodbyes I walked back to Mosman Junction where I had a short wait for the bus back to Manly. Back at Jac’s apartment I ran into Matt’s friend who he’d let use his room. She was an English teacher taking a break from working in Oman. We had a good chat about the celebrations over a couple of tea before I had to start packing my exploded backpack.