It was an unusual Wednesday night, in the sense that both Graeme and I had other plans, so we didn’t meet, as usual, at the pub.

Graeme had a work farewell to attend.

And I had a work-related function to attend at the Cruise Bar.

Cruise Bar is such a great venue by the way. Although it seems the Opera Bar is more popular, I’ve always enjoyed Cruise Bar more because a) I think the views are better b) it’s less crowded c) it’s easier and faster to get a drink. As great as it is to sit outdoors and enjoy the Harbour Bridge view you get from Opera Bar, my personal preference is for the Opera House view you get from Cruise Bar.

Anyway, the event I was attending was the announcement of the People’s Choice Winner for the Smart Light Festival.

A couple of weeks ago I attempted to have a look around the festival with Sue when she was visiting, though unfortunately the heavy rain prevented this trip.

As I wandered down to have a look at the lights I was genuinely surprised at how many people were out on a cold Wednesday night enjoying the activity. I’m unaware of how many would have been tourists, and how many would have been locals, but I guess it doesn’t matter that much, when you get to see so many people enjoying themselves.

The “People’s Choice Winner” was an obvious one, I thought. Located out the front of Customs House, it was the one with the most people milling around taking photographs. It’s the one people obviously enjoyed most because of scale, colour, whatever.

Overall, a nice way to spend the night sipping on a chardy, enjoying an amazing conversation with a woman who I’ve heard of for many years, but had never met before, even though she knows several people I do. “I remember you from Countdown”, I told her, which brought a smile to her face.