Photo from the archive of Zagranitsa
The Starting Point of Eternity
The right to enter the new year first belongs to the Kiribatians from Christmas Island. They probably got this advantage over the rest of humanity thanks to the name of the island. It is located east of the 180th meridian, that is, geographically it should be not the first, but the last to enter the new year. But Kiribati has adopted its own time, and this decisively changes the matter: the last becomes the first.
And the kingdom of Tuvalu entered the ranks of the first "honestly", without any local time adjustments. It is located on nine atolls with a total area of 26 square kilometers.
Russian border guards on Ratmanov Island also celebrate the New Year among the first. Here the International Date Line passes right between the two islands of the Bering Strait, between Chukotka and Alaska. Therefore, the inhabitants of the American island of Krusenstern invariably find themselves in yesterday. They celebrate the New Year a day later than their Russian colleagues.
The question of who is the first to celebrate the New Year greatly worried the international community only once, in 1999, on the eve of the Millennium. Then a terrible dispute broke out with a purely practical background: many tourists were planning to go to the edge of the world to meet the new millennium, promising to bring considerable income to the leading state.
Russian Primorye
Vladivostok is located on the shore of the Sea of Japan in the ninth time zone, but according to Russian decree time it counts 10 hours ahead of Greenwich. That is, when it is noon in distant London and 9 p.m. in neighboring Tokyo, it is 10 p.m. in Vladivostok. Such is the illustration of the famous aphorism "everything in the world is relative".
Vladivostok was founded in 1860. Its charming old streets climb the hills - from one hill to another, white-tailed sea eagles circle overhead, and from the hills there is a view of the bay, of nimble seiners and huge ferries carrying residents to neighborhoods on the other side of the bay, fishermen and soldiers to Russky Island. The nature of Primorsky Krai is amazing. There you can find the blue bird - the very bird of luck, and the blue magpie, and the elegant Daurian jackdaw. There, colorful rhododendrons bloom, and in winter their glossy green leaves smartly peek out from under the snow. Sometimes a strange feeling arises here: as if an old Russian city with merchant houses was simply taken and moved into this exotic nature, onto these high hills on the ocean shore. And only the skyscraper of the Korean hotel "Hyundai" in the city center balances this dissonance, returning the pedestrian to the Far East, to the 132nd degree of eastern longitude, to the shore of the Sea of Japan. Local residents and tourists prefer to celebrate the New Year at one of the nearby recreation centers, especially since car rental in Vladivostok and a wide selection of tourist attractions allow this.
Vladivostok is the largest historical center of Primorye. It has more than two hundred monuments. The architectural appearance of the city mixes old and new. Buildings from the late 19th - early 20th centuries coexist with buildings built at the end of the 20th century. Residential houses have also been preserved - monuments of Russian wooden architecture of the late 19th century. Despite the massive urban development of recent decades, the city still retains both individual historical buildings and entire streets.
Russian "Exotica"
An average New Year's tour to Kamchatka lasts about a week and begins on December 30 with arrival at Petropavlovsk airport. Then tourists are taken to hotels, given time to rest, and then the sightseeing program begins.
So, you will be shown Petropavlovsk, the Valley of Geysers, taken on dog sled rides, taken to Mount Moroznaya (Yelizovo), where the ski resort of the same name is located. There are also good chances to get to Paratunka, where vacationers swim in a pool with thermal water. There is also a decent tourist base and excellent healing springs in the Nalychevo Valley. Therefore, most often the New Year celebration takes place at one of the tourist bases. Tourists are usually happy to leave the city and celebrate the holiday among the snows and wild nature.
A trip to Kamchatka is like a tourist trip of bygone times, where you are not immune to small "Soviet-style" troubles. We recommend bringing sleeping bags, practical warm clothes, and sunglasses that can protect your eyes from the bright sun.
"The Land of Luck"
In the tenth time zone is the best part of Australia - its eastern part. There stands the city of Sydney, colorful fish of the Great Barrier Reef swim, and bright parrots fly in the tropical forests of Queensland.
Australians call their country the Land of Luck. Here everyone smiles, walks barefoot, and leads a healthy lifestyle. Sydneysiders celebrate the New Year in T-shirts and shorts: it's the height of summer there and the thermometer climbs past plus 30. The main fireworks will thunder over Botany Bay, over the Opera House, over the skyscrapers of Downtown, and will be reflected in millions of multicolored flashes in the glass walls of buildings.
The indigenous population, the aborigines of Queensland and the Red Desert, on New Year's Eve jump headfirst from tall trees, having first tied themselves with a vine. They are the inventors of the "Tarzan swing". The midnight New Year's jump allows one to get rid of all illnesses and misfortunes that plagued the outgoing year and to enter the coming year healthy and happy.