New Year Celebrations

As a side note, we arrived home this New Year's Eve after 8 hours in the car. The last thing we wanted to do was head out for a late night! As it turned out, there was a huge party up the road that saw the sun in on a new year, and part of me wishes I'd had the inclination. The other part of me was happy to hit the sack early. Here are my thoughts of the end/start of New Year Celebrations...


Back in my younger days I was a big fan of ‘ye old New Year celebrations’. In the city I could be found dancing on tables with hordes of friends and strangers, having paid an excessive amount of money to enter a non-descript bar, singing at the top of my lungs and partaking in a drink or two. *wink wink nudge nudge* I had all the energy and stamina in the world, and New Years Eve was the best night out in the calendar year.

After I moved out west I found it harder to really relax when I was out. I had become more anxious about the classic small town concern, whereby parents of students (or god forbid even students themselves) could see what I was like after a few drinks, and as such I always erred on the side of ‘less is more’, much to my friends’ disappointment. Once bitten, twice shy I guess.

One New Year I even found my way to Nindigully. I spent my first night in an actual swag (I had no idea what one even was before I moved out west), and saw how crazy a New Years party could actually be. It was hot (like STINKING hot), crowded and loud. There were cars and bands and so many people. And even more flies than there were people. It was a huge culture shock for me.

Now that I am old (er) with young children, New Years celebrations are like an elusive friend. I’d like to catch up again and reminisce, but life seems to keep getting in the way.

The irony is that now I have the money and ability to afford to head out and have a big one, I have less inclination to do so. “We live so far away…”, “I can’t be bothered driving…”, “But who will mind the kids…” You name it, I’ve probably used it as an excuse. Mostly I find myself fighting the urge to sleep and finding that by 10pm I have reached my limit and trot off to bed for a full night of sleep. I don’t even remember the last time I was awake to see the New Year in.
Perhaps this year will be different. My children are all old enough to get their own breakfast in the morning. They know how to work the television. Maybe a big night out is on the cards after all.