Friday, the 30th, the 3 of us wandered around more of the city - John continued our guided tour to Darling harbour. It was a great day to spend the afternoon wandering around by the water. The harbour is lined with bars and restaurants so we took advantage of the nice day and ate some cheap sushi and had a nice cold drink. We happened to wander up in the middle of a random busker show and catch the end of his act. What was crazy is that we had seen this same guy perform at the Waterloo busker's fest back in August.

We grabbed some food and drink supplies for NYE, had an amazing curry takeaway, and picked Julia up at the airport in the evening. We just hung in at John's place, catching up and playing a ridiculous children's board game from the 80s, 'The Game of Knowledge'.

Saturday, for New Years Eve, we walked to the Paddington Markets in the early afternoon. It was a fun, artsy market that runs Saturdays in a neighbourhood near John. We headed over to his friend Shane's place in North Sydney around 4pm to start our bbq and party. He has an amazing apartment on the top floor of an old building with a huge rooftop terrace overlooking the harbour, with a view of the Harbour Bridge. It was such a warm, sunny day, I still can't believe how spoiled we were to celebrate the night in such style. We were joined by John's roommates and the group of Dutch friends we had celebrated Christmas with.

We sat out enjoying the weather, the view and the company. In the afternoon, the sky over the harbour buzzed with helicopters and stunt planes. At 9pm, there is a small firework show for the kids and we had such a great view! What more can I say, it was a fantastic night and the fireworks at midnight were incredible! I knew they would be good but they were better than expected - they were set off from 7 points along the harbour. It was beautiful and such a great way to start off 2012.

By 2am, we were ready to head back across the harbour to Darlinghurst. We somehow managed to flag a cab but he wanted $70 to get back across the bridge!! We were so mad! We walked to the train station, which was kept open late and were herded into the crowded station. Such a smart city, the kept trains running frequently and the ride home was free!

Here's to an amazing 2012 - Happy New Year everyone!!!