11...   10...   9...   8...   7...   6...   5...   4...   3...   2...   1...   HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A New Year's countdown that beings at 11? That's what happens when a bunch of geeks find out that a "leap second" is being added to the end of the year.

We saw the New Year in with a few of our closest and mostest at Budgewoi. We did all the usual Budgewoi stuff. We went to the beach in the morning and avoided the rips and bluebottles. We had a Budgewoi lunch and takeout and a BBQ for dinner. We walked to the shops for ice creams and lollies. Thanks to Uncle Bob for letting us use the house for the weekend. Thanks to our guests for helping out on the weekend, especially on clean up detail. You guys get a gold star for the weekend. (photos)

Our journey home was a bit of an advenCHA as we got stuck in Bushfire traffic. The F3 Freeway and Pacific Highway closed because of a bushfire at Mt White. Unfortunately, they closed it at the Gosford exit about 20 minutes before we reached Gosford. We were directed off the freeway and we then spent the next few hours trying to find an alternate route to Sydney. We drove to Wisemans Ferry, where we were turned away. I'd never seen the town of Spencer before and now I've been there twice. We drove back to Gosford again; three hours later and we were back at our starting point. We met up with the Dowleys (who were in the same boat as us) and decided to see a movie (Fun with Dick and Jane) while we waited to see if they would open the freeway again. Luckily, the freeway was open when the movie finished. We had a very smooth run to Sydney and we were home at 9.30pm. A 1.5 hour trip took us 7.5 hours.

It wasn't actually that bad a day. We were in air-conditioned comfort the whole day, either in the car or in the cinema. We don't have air-conditioning at home so we were probably better off. We were only stuck in a traffic queue for half an hour, so we were driving for most of the time. We had scenery to look and tractors to spot. It could have been much worse.


I was surprised at the lack of information we received from the authorities. We received conflicting reports from different sources throughout the day. The ABC was telling everyone to go to Wisemans Ferry. When we arrived there we were told that the road was closed (by another motorist so we're not sure how truthful the report was). The Dowleys asked a Firey what to do and he suggested that they find accommodation for the evening as he was sure the Freeway would be closed for the night. The RTA website had no useful information what-so-ever. It reminded me of a scene in War of the Worlds where people in the crowd are discussing what cities in the world have been destroyed. Some people think that America is safe and Europe has been decimated. Others think it's the other way round. Rumours spread like wildfire and fiction is taken for fact. The RFS and the RTA had a very busy day on New Year's Day but they failed the motorists who were diverted off the F3. I wonder how they'll cope when the Aliens land *G*.