At time of posting we're 50 minutes away.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/mor...-1226233962712
EQUIPPED with eskies, blankets, bottles of bubbly and high spirits, Australians have taken up position around the continent as the countdown begins to the new year. In Melbourne, fine weather is expected to draw half a million people to the city centre for a spectacular golden fireworks display.
The city will ring in 2012 with a $2.6 million celebration involving ten tonnes of fireworks exploding from 17 city locations.
Starting at 9.45pm (AEDT), a gold flare will be fired across 11 city rooftops every half hour until the clock strikes midnight.
The city will then burst into gold with a $400,000 fireworks display lasting 10 minutes.
Hundreds of police will patrol the city and coastal hotspots including the Surf Coast, Mornington Peninsula and Phillip Island to crack down on drunken revellers.
Sydney's hazy early morning skies cleared and the sun came out as revellers converged around the harbour foreshore for the city's world-famous fireworks extravaganza.
A haze will again shroud the city as seven tonnes of fireworks worth $6.5 million - billed to include the world's first display of a "cloud-shaped" pyrotechnic effect - go up in smoke.
By 4.30pm west Circular Quay and the area around the Opera House had reached capacity, a City of Sydney spokesman said.
Families will be treated to a 9pm (AEDT) curtain-raiser ahead of the midnight main event when the highlight of the night, the Harbour Bridge theme, will be revealed.
Temporary cyclone fences surrounded Sydney's ticketed top vantage points as the masses jostled for a place elsewhere.
Mrs Macquarie's Chair, with a capacity of 20,000, is the biggest venue along the harbour foreshore.
In Brisbane, the South Bank parklands are the place to be, with a crowd of up to 80,000 expected along the riverside for fireworks at 8.30pm (AEST) and midnight.
Revellers were advised to bring umbrellas with predictions of cloudy conditions with one or two showers.
The good news is the showers will decrease as the night wears on.
On the Gold Coast the main fireworks shows will light up the Surfers Paradise foreshore at 9pm (AEST) and midnight.
Two spectacular fireworks shows are also planned in the national capital, where thousands are expected to flock to Civic.
Each show will last for about 15 minutes and should be visible throughout central Canberra.
Meanwhile, Tasmania won't be missing out on the action, with British indie rockers The Kooks ushering in the new year at the Falls Festival at Marion Bay, and food and wine the focus on Hobart's waterfront
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