Does anything happen at Lady Bay, Sydney on New Year's Eve, or is it closed like some other beaches?

Question

Lady Bay is a small nudist beach near Watsons Bay in Sydney Australia.

I seem to recall that there's at least a partial view of the city from there. Possibly not the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House, but I think enough of the skyline and open sky to see the famous New Year's Eve firework display.

Now many beaches and parks have organized NYE events, there is an official website with a map of vantage points.

And other beaches, including Bondi Beach, which does not face the harbour, is closed each New Year's Eve, to prevent drunken revellers from causing too much trouble, including needing to be rescued from the treacherous surf!

But I can't seem to find anything online saying whether or not Lady Bay has any official or unofficial party for New Year, or whether or not it's even possible to go there.

Can anybody provide information either way?

Answer 1

Lady Bay is a part of the Sydney Harbour National Park.

In general, Sydney Harbour National Park is only open sunrise to sunset. During special events like New Years Eve they do open parts of the park outside of these times, but this only applies to specific areas, and normally requires tickets purchased in advance. The list of such sites for NYE 2013 is listed on the National Parks website.

The nearest site to Lady Bay that would be available for NYE is Robertson Park which is a few hundred metres south of Lady Bay, but is not a part of the National Park. As with most parks near the harbour there are restrictions in place - specifically no glass.

It is possible that you would be able to get to Lady Bay, but as far as I can see it's not allowed - and with the lack of public transport to that area and road closures even physically getting there is going to be difficult.

Answer 2

As Doc said in his answer, places within a very short walk were open for New Year's Eve - even beaches.

There was a partial view including skyline but not including the Harbour Bridge or Opera house.

As Doc also said Lady Bay is within an area which is closed overnight every night of the year anyway. The sign at the walkway said that all of South Head is closed:

But there was also an addittional sign for the occasion stating that South Head would be closed from Noon on the 31st until 5am on the 1st:

There turned out to be some parties in the rough vicinity in parks that required tickets, and other places with partial views with very small crowds compared to other places.

Here's what the 9pm (for the kids) fireworks looked like from this area: