Sunday 10th July 2016 - Winterfests and "Cool Yule" in Sydney

There are several Winterfest happening in and around Sydney around the same time. The 2 well known ones are located at St Marys Cathederal Forecourt and around Darling Harbour.

I have been several times in previous years to Winterfest at St Marys Cathederal and every year it's the same old stuff  - the small odd shaped melting ice skating rink, the zorb balls, the snowboard simulator, the large inflatable slide, the apre ski hut and fast food stalls ie plenty of chips on a stick, dutch pancakes and German (wurst) sausages! and the hire out artifical igloos therefore this year I decided to concentrate on going to the Winterfest at Darling Harbour called "Cool Yule"
I was a little disappointed as it was quite small and spread out around Darling Harbour instead of concentrated in one area like the one at St Marys Cathederal.
There was an ice skating rink - still melting and small but of regular shape. I had my ice skates with me in case I felt like a late night skate in an outdoor rink - but no not tonight, not worth the crowds the cost and it was not cokd enough - to skate at an outdoor ice skating rink it has to be REALLY cold for the atmosphere with a nice open fire pit near it to warm up , roast mashmellows and drink hot chocolate near. In the actual Harbour Wharf area on the water there was a large artifical iceberg which didn't do anything but looked convincingly real. There were suppose to be fireworks but were non existant by 8 pm on Sunday night. There was the ferris wheel renamed the cool yule ferris wheel which is nothing spectaular - it's just a permant ferris wheel for tourists by no means anything special like the Star at Docklands in Melbourne which is a giant ferris wheel. Near the Maritime Museum there was suppose to be a snow pit - when I got there it was covered up and closed - most disappointing of the festival. Walking back to Cockle Bay the selfie booth advertised in the Cool Yule map was my next stop. I was rather disappointed with this as well - it was a DIY selfie stand not even a booth and where you download an app on your phone and apparently point your phone at the stand's background and see penguins and also make it look like it's snowing in Sydney in the background of your selfie. Walking back towards Tumbalong Park (I am unsure of the exact spelling so apologises) was the highlight of Cool Yule at Darling Harbour - probably the only highlight. I am unsure what it was called but it sure was pretty! If you wanted to take a selfie this was the place to take one or several! Only a photo could describe this place - view it from a distance - view it up close - view it from the front entrance and view it from the back entrance - view it from its side - walk through it and view it from inside and outside and look up towards its ceiling inside and out. It glows white in the dark . (Photos attached) Rating : 5/10 - Very dissppointing . Did funding run out after VIVID?

Walking back to the station , unrelated to Cool Yule at Darling Harbour there is a laneway with sets of steps along both sides. In the middle of the laneway there are usually photographic or other forms of art on exhibition. Currently on exhibition is a series of large Mr Men and Little Miss Prints to mark their 45th aniversary. (Photos attached) . This was intetssting to look at and photograph however what was more interesting was the sea of smartphones I saw in the dark along almost the entire laneway on either side. Sitting crammed on every available spot along these stairs were hundreds of people actively on their smart phones - was there even wifi there? With 2 large commercial buildings on either side of the laneway and a row of fast food joints nearby including a Macas (unsure how abbrieviation is spelt - a McDonalds that is) there was bound to be a free wifi/hotspot near by . Quite a scary thought cyber security wise.