We left the rolliness of Coff's Harbor and headed out for Sydney, in the hopes of making the fireworks. We left at 7am, a little later than planned but still in plenty of time to make it into the harbor in daylight. It was 250 miles and we planned 48 hours travel time. We were motoring as the wind was very light. There was a bit of a counter current against us so David headed us further off shore. Where the shelf drops off the EAC begins. EAC is the East Australian Current. It was running at 3 knots, which means we added 3 knots to our boat speed. Four Girl was screaming along averaging 9 1/2 to 10 1/2 knots for hours. It was exhilarating, we have never traveled at that speed for that long. That wasn't all either, we had dolphins playing in our bow wake a couple of times. This is the most pods of dolphins we have seen. Not the biggest pods but we have seen a lot of dolphins here, which is magic every time. I was on watch and started doing some math. I got it into my head that we would arrive in Sydney by late afternoon of the second day at sea, thus eliminating a night at sea. Yeah, a good night sleep before we had to stay up for midnight fireworks and champagne. I went for my nap confident that we would be very close when I woke up. Well the best laid plans of mice and men. I woke up to Flour Girl punching into a head wind, directly on the nose. We were only making 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 knots. There went my plans. David went for his nap and I sat there pining away for a couple of hours. The wind came around a bit and I fell off and pulled out the sail! I had to keep the motor on but at least we were making 6 knots, we had some hope. As luck would have it we arrived at Sydney harbor around 9 pm. Just after the sun had gone completely down and just before the moon had risen. We headed in assuming that being a first world large harbor it would be well lit and easy to navigate in the dark. Not so much. We turned into the first bay, where there were some sailboats anchored, dropped the hook well away from everyone else and strung out our Christmas lights at the back of the cockpit so we could be easily seen and went to bed.

There are lots of bays and anchorages in Sydney Harbor, it is absolutely immense. Our friends Karl, Becky, Sophia and Blake were in another harbor and sent a text the next morning to say they had moved over to Farm Cove next to the Opera House to watch the fireworks. We upped anchor and headed over. We threw out the sail for effect but it wasn't really doing anything but blocking the view so we took it in. We got to the anchorage at 9am to find it was already overcrowded. The front line of the anchorage could have just about rafted together. It was the best view but we went for safety and anchored in the back of the field. We had plenty of room and felt pretty safe. Zack got to play with his buddies Blake and Sophie and was a very happy guy. Zack and Blake are a great mix. We didn't get off the boat because it was chaos with boats coming in all day trying to get good spots. Windarra had a boat that swung within 3 feet of hitting them. I thought anchoring at Foxy's was bad, and it is , but this was pandemonium. A few boats hit each other, I saw one boat caught in the anchor rode of the boat behind it, we were glad to be at the back. It was unbelievable watching boats come in late in the day and just driving to the front of the pack and dropping their anchors on top of other boats. The anchorage was closed to boats at 8pm and we were far enough back that we did not get crowded with other boats. Not the best seats for the show but definitely the most comfortable for us. We were about a thousand feet from the Sydney Opera House and we were excited just to be there.

There are two sets of fireworks, 9pm for the family and 12pm to ring in the new year. As we were waiting on the boat there were helicopters flying around and we even saw a blimp, which Zack kept calling a "blip" which was kind of funny. We were just relaxing and waiting for the show when we heard low flying planes. Two small planes came in and did a show, chasing each other around and dipping their wings. There were 3 helicopters positioned to keep the airspace clear. One of them was directly over our boat and we could feel the downdraft on us. When the show was over we went down for dinner and had yet to sit down when we heard another plane. This guy was alone and he put on a great show. He was a true acrobat with wings. He did spins, flips, loopty loops, back flips, it was crazy. He would fly straight up, stall the plane and come hurtling to the ground, pulling up at the last minute over the water. A crashing plane could not have looked more out of control. It was a superb show. Down for dinner and just finishing up at about 8;40 when the fireworks started going off. We dashed up top and saw a few go off. False alarm, maybe a test but that was it until 9;00. We put on some warm clothes and poured some champagne and got comfortable. The family fireworks started at nine and what a show. They set the fireworks off in multiple locations. We could see four of them from our boat. They were simultaneous, with the same fireworks going off at the same time, and not one at a time, it was like a grand finale the entire show. Zack was so excited he was jumping up and down screaming the entire show. There were fireworks exploding everywhere, over the Opera House and directly in front of us on the side of us, it was insanity. Then came the finale, overwhelming, but wait that wasn't the finale, it kept going until yes, there was a final finale. If this was the family fireworks we couldn't wait to see the real fireworks. We did our best to stay awake but being really tired it was difficult. David went up to check that all was safe and yelled down for Zack and I to come up. There was a boat parade going on. There were about 10 boats dressed in orange lights parading up the river. The highlight was a square rigger that had lights strung up to look like full sail. We watched that for a while and went down to take a small nap. Not to worry we were so close that we knew the fireworks would wake us up. We heard the explosions begin and raced up top. A few fireworks went off and then stopped. It was only 10;30, were they checking to see if we were still up? Back to sleep and up at a quarter to midnight. Poor Zack is not a person to wake up in the middle of the night. He rallied and we were on deck for the start of the midnight fireworks. There was a countdown from the people onshore, so many people that it was like we were standing next to them for the countdown. Then the party began!! Never in my life have I seen fireworks like this. We could see five sets from where we were. They were exploding everywhere, off the bridge, behind the Opera House, in front of us, on the side, down the river. The noise was deafening. The sky was so lit up it could have been daylight. It was too much, at a few times the smoke was so thick it was obscuring the fireworks. But it just kept going, on and on and and getting better and better. The show over the Opera House was amazing. It was as if rockets were being lit off behind it. They were coming off the bridge as well adding to the color. It was the most amazing display we have ever and probably will ever see. The smoke from the fireworks was so thick it was difficult to breathe. The next morning we woke to Flour Girl covered in ash and even some cardboard from the shell casings, that's how close we were. So, Foxy's and Sydney, that's two off the bucket list of top ten spots to ring in the New Year. Happy New Year everyone!!!