This crowd was just 1 block from my place last night as they all gathered to watch the annual New Year’s Eve fireworks display. I wasn’t going to go out amongst it last night until I heard that the CBD towers were going to have fireworks going off them. This has only ever happened twice before (that I know of). That was for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games a few years ago. I ended up being jammed in a fairly bad position in the crowd at the stroke of midnight so my shots are not that great. But I did get some good shots of the Arts Centre spire. It was the first time it has been used in the fireworks display. Overall the crowd was pretty friendly and I didn’t see much drunkeness as we’ve seen in past years.
I had a great Christmas day getting together with Tyson, Nico and Jake on Tyson and Nico’s rooftop over in Flinders Lane. The boys recently moved in with a BBQ so it was a great opportunity to try it out and for once Melbourne stayed warm and dry for the day. My first attempt at making a pavlova was a huge success. Though it was just a matter of adding cream and fruit to a huge merangue bought at the supermarket. We had music, a huge inflated Santa Claus and a Santa pinyata to be smashed after lunch. It really was a fun day.
Canon 7D for Christmas!
Must have been good this year. Santa left me a Canon 7D with a 17-55mm f2.8 constant appeture lens this morning when I woke up. I’m spending Christmas day with Tyson, Nico and Jake over on their rooftop having a BBQ. So there should be plenty of great photos to share tonight.
Merry Christmas!
Best Dressed Christmas Desk
I didn’t even know there was a competition when I won the first prize for the best decorated desk for Christmas at the office this year. Late one night Chris and I went into the office and wrapped my desk and the surrounding furniture in Christmas wrapping paper. It took a while to do but the results look great!
Luna Park St Kilda turns 98
I was really surprised to read the papers this morning and learn that Luna Park in my old suburb of St Kilda turned 98 years old today. It’s pretty amazing that it has been around for that long. It seems to have had a long and chequered history too. This article even blames Luna Park for bringing the seedy sex trade to this idyllic beachside suburb of Melbourne. I lived just a few blocks from here and loved every minute of the life there.
Oprah in Australia
It was pretty cool seeing Oprah just 1 block from the Loft today. She is doing a whirlwind tour of Australia and spent 10 minutes on stage with the Prime Minister of Australia this afternoon. Now she is holding a cocktail party a couple of blocks away in a small shopping arcade. This week Australia has gone a little Oprah crazy.
New Residents in Melbourne
I am pretty excited about Tyson and Nico moving to Melbourne. And even more so that they are going to be living in Loft 1. I really hope they like living there as much as I did. Tyson is arriving tonite followed by a truck with all their gear tomorrow. I feel a house warming party coming on.
I am at home for a few days now recovering from my second hip operation. The first operation back in March didn’t quite fix the problem correctly so the surgeon wanted another go at it. So I slipped in to hospital a few days ago where my hip with pulled out again. The surgeon reckons he’s fixed it now. I just have to put up with crutches for a little while now and get back to physio again. Hopefully I’ll be running and jumping again by Christmas.
The Sun Shines in Melbourne
I was so happy to see the sun come out this weekend. When we got off the plane earlier this week I was sad to see that it was still cold in Melbourne. But I think that was just Melbourne’s weather misbehaving. I have been dying to get back into taking photos outside, so Brad popped in today to model for me on the rooftop. I want to pick up my photography more now and hopefully work more on my blogging and photography next year. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo book deal this year, but the publishers in Germany are still interested in working with me.