Riverfire (Sep 2011)

Every year we look forward to Riverfire - an enormous firework display held in Brisbane. They light fireworks up and down the river, off barges, the banks, the buildings and the bridges. It is truly spectacular.


We got there a bit early to work through the crowds and see the helicopters- they would fly down close to the river causing huge ripples and spraying the crowd. Lani and Cameron went all out and brought a little camping stove for their dinner.

This must have been Reid's first firework show. He was such a sensitive little boy and any loud noises really frightened him, so you can imagine how he reacted. He might have been okay with me but I let Warren hold him and I don't think he could handle the loud noises and being away from his mommy. Sadly the rest of the night was a bit downhill for him. He wouldn't eat or settle down much till we were heading home. Poor thing. 

But it was a lovely night. They used to have big jets fly by that would release flames behind them. They've also had laser lights off the buildings flashing around with the music. One of our favorite parts is the waterfall looking fireworks that cascade off the bridges into the water. It is a beautiful sight
The first year we were so smashed in with people and I had some sort of heat/claustrophobic reaction and almost fainted/threw up. But I couldn't get past the people so I just hunched down on the ground and put my head between my knees and put all my energy into not throwing up - imagine what a horrible place to do so! Every now and then I would try and look back up to not miss the action before feeling too sick. As soon as the people started to leave and I had room to breathe I was fine. The second year I was pregnant and it was that huge swine flu outbreak so we decided to stay safe and stay home. Year three we watched with Varian's mum from the cliffs of kangaroo point which up there was not nearly so festive. 

This post was year four and we did it in celebration of Warren's birthday. Last year we tried to meet up with our friends but had some family stuff come up and ended up getting there a bit late. But we found a nice spot in some trees (literally Jaren sat up in a tree) and it was pleasant. Maybe this year we'll have to go back to making more of an event out of it. One year we're determined to get my parents here to see it. My mom would be hysterical with euphoria at all these fireworks!