New Year in Sydney… and bushfires

Once again we spent New Year’s Eve watching the spectacular fireworks in Sydney Harbour, from the 16th floor office of our Sydney Consulate General.

The city was packed with revellers. I was very impressed with how easy it was to get back afterwards, as public transport was running late into the night and free of charge.

I’ve been getting up to Sydney probably on average once a week for the last two years. But I never fail to be impressed by its stunning harbour-side setting every single time I see it.

Out in the harbour over the holiday I was reminded of the words of one of my earliest Australian heroes, Clive James, sitting in London “twelve thousand miles away and ten hours from now, the yachts will be racing on Sydney Harbour under a sky of powdered sapphire on a sea of crushed diamond.”

If you’re reading this in the cold of a British winter, talk of sunshine may provoke a bit of envy. But remember, this is our summer, Canberra gets very cold in July.

And a 40 degree heat wave has brought some major problems. We’ve been seeing massive bush fires this week across the south eastern states, with some tragic human consequences and destruction of homes and livelihoods.

British TV viewers will have been watching with shock and sympathy. In the face of these periodic natural disasters, the stoicism of the Australian people, and the professionalism of its emergency services are hugely impressive. With fast changing local conditions, travellers need to be alert to the warnings in the media.

It’s back to work with a bang at the High Commission, because the Foreign and Defence Secretaries are due in Australia next week for the annual AUKMIN meeting, which means a very busy start to the year.

Have a great 2013.