Australia on my mind, yet again...
 

Australia, oh Australia, how I miss you. It's probably no surprise to you that we're thinking about your lovely country again. Heck, we never stopped thinking about it.

Having seen images of the celebrations in Sydney over the Lunar New Year as we celebrate the holiday here in the States, it brought back wonderful memories of our time there over New Year's Eve just weeks ago. And it also encouraged me to think about making the trip to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Sydney at some point hopefully in the future. Surely these cannot be the only two occasions when Sydneysiders light up the sky, I thought, which leads me to my Australian friends here.

What are other opportunities to see fireworks in Sydney Harbour besides the new year? What are some of your favorite pyrotechnic spectacles in other parts of Australia?

We are considering a visit with some friends and family who've never set foot on the Continent. Thanks for helping me think of and possibly plot a return visit to Australia.

Well, Perth puts on a show for Australia Day - Skyworks.

Unfortunately it was cancelled this year due to a tragedy in the Swan River a few hours prior:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-2...review/8218498

Funnily enough, we didn't attend Skyworks in the seven years we lived in Perth - we're not into crowds or fireworks.

Might I suggest a visit to Western Australia for some non-firework activities?

Melnq8, thank you. Good to know about the Australia Day fireworks. Perth and WA are on our list for a future visit. We shied away from it on this past trip in favor of Tasmania given the early January weather.

Melbourne has spectacular fireworks on NYE - all from the tops of buildings all over the city

BTW us Melburnians sometimes giggle that Sydney is mad about fireworks and "here's another one".

Northie, thank you. Do the skies light up in Melbourne at other times of the year? I don't really need an excuse to drop down to Melbourne though.

Lights, cameras, action, ....VIVID SYDNEY!

http://www.sydney.com/destinations/s...usic-and-ideas

This year 26 May - 17 June.

It's on every year - getting bigger & better each time.

Bokhara2, yes!! Thank you. I almost forgot about Vivid. Heard great things about it from the locals we chatted up; it seems Sydneysiders mostly enjoy Vivid more than NYE, both in terms of weather and crowds. Are the displays better on the first few days, last few, or it is pretty even throughout the festival?

It's pretty even throughout, recommend you try for midweek, as it's busier on weekends.

No quite fireworks but every year Melbourne has White Night where buildings are illuminated with beautiful colours overnight, it is well worth a visit
https://whitenightmelbourne.com.au/
So much to do in Melbourne and of course visit us here on he Mornington Peninsula.

white night in February is a great artistic event-agree with sharich

Sharich, this is the first time I'm hearing about White Nights. Thank you.

Bokhara2 and Northie, thank you too for the additional information.

I'm seriously thinking about a return visit for 2018.

Think seriously about going to W.A
North west in the Kimberley is a whole side to this country - only between May and September though , also the South West area that Melnq writes about.
Also think about Northern Territory- Kakadu .

Both WA and SA (Kangaroo Island) are high on my list, as is Far North Queensland and more of Tasmania. We went to NT during our visit 3 years ago but did not make it to Kakadu. There's so much to see, which means where we go will likely depend on when we visit.

Oh yes - do go to WA & the NT, if you can. Ideally, in our winter, or at least after May, so all the "wet" area roads should be open again.


You've spent a good amount of time in the South - the West & NT is completely different in myriad unexpected ways.

Have a look at Visit NT & VIsit WA ( Tourism Australia's sites) ... which I'm guessing you've probabky already trawled through.

Consider doing a 2-3 day charter flight or two to/across remote areas where you might like to stay. I did one in the Channel country (Qld) a few years ago, when Lake Eyre was full for the first time in decades & it was sensational.

There are lots of small group tour operators up there. A friend did 10 days with one last year & I'll dig up the details for you.

Another vote for WA, but I'm biased as I love here :)

Fremantle (on our coast and about 20 minutes from the city) has fireworks throughout the year:

- Australia Day in January (however they did decide to do it a couple of days after this year, but that is a another story)
- Blessing of the Fleet in October
- Fremantle Festival in November

The Royal Perth show also has fireworks every night (late September/early October).

Our city also has numerous buildings lit up at night in different colours.

Spending some time in our south west is also a must.

Another suggestion would be to go north and see the Ord Valley Muster in the Kimberley. I haven't done it, but it's on my bucket list and looks amazing.

I'm off to Darwin for a quick 3 day visit in a few months and will be visiting Litchfield National Park. There looks to be some great tours there.

Thanks Bokhara2 and Rellie2 for some great ideas. Rellie2, have fun at Litchfield; we were there in 2013 and enjoyed it.