Er, no.
It is even terrible to expect anything more startling than replacements of badly needed worn out clothing or equipment. Too much drama & heartache around this part of the world at the moment, when people have lost their homes, their lives, even, to do more than be very grateful for a new book to read & the unexpected & most enjoyable box of chocolates, given to me with so much love.
It is now a full week after Christmas Day. Happy New Year today, January 1st, 2020, wherever in the world you happen to be! We had fireworks as usual in Sydney, itself, to ring in the New Year, even though many felt, with 2020 hindsight, that this year they should have been cancelled, especially with total fire bans in place. Suburban events in Parramatta & Campbelltown definitely were cancelled & there were only a few fireworks let off around here.
However, such yearly events are planned well ahead, & who would have ever dreamed, at the end of 2018, that the bushfires would have been so devastating on New Year's Eve in 2019? They went ahead as scheduled, as around Sydney Harbour is probably the safest part to have fireworks. But this year's fireworks, as spectacular as they still were, were a bit subdued, & only went on for about half the time it did in past years. Red Cross & other charity volunteers used the occasion to collect donations, raising A$900,000 or more for the Australian Red Cross alone.
There have been some good news though. Mogo Zoo & its animals have been so far protected from a raging bushfire at Clyde Mountain, near Batemans Bay on the NSW south coast. However, the township has been demolished instead, & there has been some deaths. Courtenay, I'm sorry to have to tell you the bushfires of 2009 have returned to Gippsland, a decade later.