Fingers crossed for ‘normal’ as we kiss 2021 goodbye

Fireworks returned to the sky in towns and cities across the nation on Friday as revellers kissed goodbye to 2021, hoping the new year brings something resembling normality.

Fireworks erupt over the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge as the city celebrates the start of 2022. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

Fireworks returned to the sky in towns and cities across the nation on Friday as revellers kissed goodbye to 2021, hoping the new year brings something resembling ­normality.

In Sydney – where the million people who normally line the harbour were a year ago forced to watch the fireworks on television – limited crowds braved the Omicron outbreak in ticketed foreshore vantage points to watch a show themed “See Sydney shine’’. The 9pm fireworks display had an Indigenous theme, with dancers projected onto the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylons.

In Melbourne, fireworks and kissing – both banned a year ago – were back in vogue.

On the Gold Coast, Camila ­Durazzo, a Brazilian national and her Australian partner Joshua Rogers, hoped the new year would bring reunions for families kept apart by border closures. After welcoming their first child Sofia 11 months ago, the couple have been unable to introduce her to family and friends interstate and overseas. “I am so excited for my parents to come from Brazil and meet my daughter, it is their first grandchild,” Ms Durazzo said.

“I have not seen them in 2½ years and they have never been to Australia. We FaceTime almost every day but I am dreaming of the moment they can hold her.”

Mr Rogers, a carpenter with family in New Zealand, said they were keen to put 2021 behind them. “We love to travel so that has been the hardest thing for us,” he said. “It would be good if things can start going back to normal, but we will just have to wait and see how things pan out.”

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered to watch fireworks events across Queensland as Brisbane held its first New Year’s Eve display since 2019. Melburnians packed out beaches and turned out for fireworks despite a blistering 38C day, nearly 6000 new Covid infections and 18 months of stop-start restrictions.

While rising case numbers forced Melbourne’s usual rooftop fireworks to be scrapped in favour of four separate displays at “celebration zones”, all 42,000 tickets to each zone sold out.

Camila Durazzo and Joshua Rogers with daughter Sofia. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Newlyweds Michaela and Trent Francis, both 32, celebrated their nuptials at the College Lawn Hotel in Melbourne’s inner south after cancelling the affair four times due to the pandemic. “I feel relieved … it’s just a big stress off our shoulders,” Ms Francis said.

“I just want things to return to normal (next year). Just to be able to be with friends and family and not have to worry about lockdowns or restrictions. Just fun times.”

Narelle Forbes, 50, and Rohan Wiltshire, 47, decided to see out 2021 with a visit to the theatre.

“We went to Moulin Rouge, which was amazing,” Ms Forbes said. “But we were into the ­second act (and 30 minutes out from finishing) they brought the curtain down, no explanation,” she said.

It later emerged the show had to be curtailed after a company member tested positive to Covid.

The couple opted for a beer at Federation Square during what would have been the final act before they planned to watch the fireworks at home.

Crowd numbers were down on pre-Covid levels in Sydney as authorities ticketed vantage points to maintain social distancing.

Newlyweds Michaela and Trent Francis celebrate with friends in Prahran, Melbourne. Picture: David Geraghty

Online forums were flooded with posts of people selling tickets to their New Year’s Eve events at heavily discounted prices after they were forced into isolation.

Opera Australia cancelled a New Year’s Eve performance of La Boheme in Sydney due to a Covid outbreak.

But Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the city would not be held back by the latest outbreak. “We’re hoping it’ll bring lots of joy to lots of people, bring work to our performers, and support those businesses in ­hospitality that are surviving,” she told The Weekend Australian.

University student Carly ­Lavins arrived at Blues Point ­Reserve on the north side of Sydney Harbour early on Friday expecting it would be packed, and felt it important to send off 2021 in a special way.

“I think it’s pretty magical, and important for self reflection. It’s been a really hard year,” the 20-year-old said.

Her friend Lauren Ewins, 20, said going outside to the foreshore to watch the fireworks was the closest thing to doing something normal.

“I don’t think we’ve had the same sort of worries. It feels like a regular New Year’s but also given the lack of people you can tell it’s still different,” Ms Ewins said.

Nearby, Barbara Silva gave 2021 a grand send-off with a New Year’s Eve she won’t forget as she prepared to return to Chile after finishing her studies.

She waited the whole year with the hope of viewing the ­fireworks.

Arriving at 8am, she expected large queues waiting to snap up the best positions.

“This is one of the best cities in the world, so maybe it’s one of the best spots,” she said.

Additional reporting: Lydia Lynch