Last updated: 29 July 2023
I’m a sucker for fireworks. No idea why, I just find the whole experience magical. Perhaps just as I did as a little kid, who knows. The lead up to the NYE has been filled with excitement and anticipation, probably on par with a kid before a trip to Disneyland.
I’m wondering if it will rival Sydney. I’ve spent quite a few years on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, one year I did the crazy dash through Darling Harbour, another year I set up shop on a picnic rug at Mrs Macquaries Chair, and another on the North side, ringing it in from Kirribilli. So London’s display was highly anticipated.
I think the biggest shock to the system was the weather. Throughout the day it poured. London style. I was avidly watching the weather report in the hope of clearing skies and relieved to see by 2100 it would be fine. Regardless of the clear skies it was still a chilly 10 degrees. Never before have I gone to NYE wearing a jacket, scarf, beanie and gloves. Or sat on an icy concrete slab for a few hours. Suffice to say, I was extremely under prepared.
A backpack containing essentials: booze (no glass allowed), money, PawPaw, a camera and the one thing you can’t live without in London, my Oyster card. So you’d think I had all the essentials, well food would have been a good idea.
Securing a spot on a curb along Waterloo Bridge we awaited the fireworks display to ring in the New Year. I looked at my watch, it was 2130. 150 minutes to go.
And the time DRAGGED. I was excited, but I was cold and uncomfortable. At one stage I was relieved to attempt to find a loo, knowing that the ladies line is usually disgustingly long but on NYE I expected it to snake around the block. I set off on my journey, noting how many light poles I passed to make sure I could find my way back through the sea of people. A mission it was. One of military proportions but I was a woman on a mission. There was navigating the sea of people, jumping of fences and I wondered if I’d ever make it back.
Then it came. Big Ben rang out those infamous dongs and my heart welled with excitement. I had waited HOURS for this and the time had come. Fireworks lit up the London sky and the smile on my face couldn’t have been bigger. It was a fabulous 10 minutes and I loved every second of it. Fireworks shot out and up form the Eye in all colours of the rainbow.
I would have liked to have seen fireworks come off Big Ben as it did for the previous year but this year the focus was the London Eye.
And in the puff of smoke and the blink of an Eye it was all over.
Getting home was an absolute nightmare. London has got a long way to go in organising themselves for NYE crowds. You’d assume the city that just held the biggest sporting event in the world would have it down pat. No. No they didn’t. They didn’t at all. The advice and research done before venturing into the City was that Tubes and trains are running until 0430. This wasn’t the case.
3 hours later, 2 trains, a cab and hours of walking and I crawled into bed. Exhausted and barely remembering the heart-warming fireworks that I’d craved so much.
Will I do it again? nope. But it’s another thing to check off the bucket list.
