Being away for New Year is totally surreal.
For as long as I can remember, we have celebrated New Year in Cheltenham or Yorkshire, alternating the hosting duties with our family friends.
I've never done anything else, apart from maybe one attempt as a teenager to go out! I didn't enjoy it!
This year was very different. We spent New Year's Eve on the 30th floor in a hotel in Sydney. This was after a day of glorious sunshine and sunbathing. So we saw 2014 arrive much earlier than our friends and family did!
The evening was quite surreal. We had free drinks and canapés from 6-8 so we arrived in plenty of time to make the most of them! The first fireworks were at 9:30, apparently for the kids. We had secured a good space by the window so decided to stay there til midnight, and the view was totally worth it.
In the UK we'd be playing games, prepping our own fireworks, making cocktails and there would normally be about 20 of us! Instead there was the six of us in a private lounge with other hotel guests (yeah, I know, tough life).
But the view was worth it. Sydney has long been heralded as the best fireworks, although Dubai seem to be trying to win that now, and they really were amazing. Fireworks fired off the opera house for the first time in years, and it really felt amazing. They didn't have edible fireworks like London though....
I managed to capture some shots which I'll share as part of my holiday catch up posts... They are not quite professional but hey, I didn't have a tripod!
Anyway, on with the resolutions. Being away for Christmas and New Year really has let me think about these, because I've not been distracted by present shopping, work, hangovers...
1. Friends
In 2014, I will see more of my friends. I've got friends spread across the country who I don't see very much, or even stay in touch with enough, so they'll be hearing a lot more from me this year! Not to mention the ones in cheltenham who I rarely see!
2. The house
I moved into a new house in mid October, and because of my travels I didn't really do much with it before Christmas. I bought a fridge and a bed! But I want to take the time this year and make it a real project, and really turn it into a house I can be proud of. Priorities when I get back will be the kitchen (I still have no oven!) and buying a vacuum cleaner!
3. Photography
Before we went on holiday I was really struggling to pick up the camera - my lovely SLR was languishing in it's bag, rarely used. I can't decide why - whether it was too heavy, or if I was using the iPhone or Panasonic GF6 just too much! The holiday has really kick-started the photography bug again and the main resolution will be to PRINT some photos, so I can look at my favourites more often. What's the point in storing thousands on a computer, never looked at!
That'll do for now, I think these will keep me busy for a while.
