By GREG ANSLEY
The Chathams may be first and Auckland may be ready to rock, but the big millennium bash is going down across the Tasman.
Sydney is steeling itself for a street and harbour party for 1.2 million people, bottled downtown in a city that will largely be without buses, taxis,
accommodation and even bars.
This is a bash for the rich and brave - too much for many party-hardened Sydneysiders.
According to a Taverner Poll for the Sun-Herald, at least half of the city intends staying well away from celebrations ranging from a $A5.5 million ($6.8 million) fireworks display over the harbour - billed as the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere - to a children's concert, a mobile-home bash at Bondi and the Queer Time party for gays and lesbians.
About 20 tonnes of fireworks will blast above the harbour as a flotilla of giant illuminated sea creatures cruise its waters.
The event is so big, in fact, that country towns throughout New South Wales scaled down their plans and complained that Sydney had siphoned too many resources.
Nothing will be cheap. In the pubs that remain open into the evening - most are closing early - drinks will be up to three times their normal price.
The best vantage points have stellar prices, although fears of traffic chaos and partygoing mayhem have left some prime seats unsold, and at least two events at inner-city hotels have been cancelled.
But plenty of others have sold out, often months in advance.
At the Quay Restaurant, with views to the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, seats cost $A1400. For $A2000 you can dine on rock oysters, roasted Angus beef sirloin with braised shallots and red wine jus, and 1991 Veuve Cliquot.
Other prime spots are asking much the same: with limited parking at $A55, Cafe Sydney's best seats cost $A3500.
Nothing comes close to this elsewhere in Australia.
Melbourne is spending $A1 million on fireworks, rave concerts, another gay and lesbian party and family-oriented events.
Brisbane's big party is at South Bank, where tens of thousands are expected to throng non-stop music shows and fireworks displays, and Surfers Paradise has enlisted Warner Bros from nearby Movieworld to turn on a "Mil-looney-um" family bash.
South Australia is spreading its party across 10 centres, the biggest in Adelaide, where the central business district will be wrapped in "ritual, celebration, dance, music, fire, sound and light."
Perth is holding a "bush bash" with the Nutgums Bush Band and the Gloucester Park trots. Fireworks will be left to Burswood Casino Resort, which is also hosting a $A3500-a-seat poolside party.
In Canberra, Regatta Point on Lake Burley Griffin will rock to bands at Waterspout, featuring waterski shows throughout the night. The climax of clowns, stunts, ballet, wakeboarding and special effects will run into a giant fireworks display.
For the faint-hearted there are alternatives: you can dine to a didgeridoo under the stars in the desert near Ayers Rock, or pick the first wine vintage of the millennium at Chateau Hornsby in Alice Springs.
And Australia's first dawn will be greeted at the Victorian coastal village of Mallacoota with a lantern procession, concert and Aboriginal ceremony.
By GREG ANSLEY
The Chathams may be first and Auckland may be ready to rock, but the big millennium bash is going down across the Tasman.
Sydney is steeling itself for a street and harbour party for 1.2 million people, bottled downtown in a city that will largely be without buses, taxis,
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