Australia celebrates 2014 with a bang A DAZZLING fireworks display capped Sydney's New Year's Eve celebrations on Sydney Harbour as hundreds of thousands of onlookers saw in 2014. The harbour exploded in a kaleidoscope of colour at midnight as fireworks launched from seven barges mesmerised the revellers that packed foreshore vantage points. The show marked the third pyrotechnic spectacular on Sydney Harbour this New Year's Eve, with city skies also lighting up at for eight minutes 9pm (AEST) and a one-off 60 second show at 10pm. In the 12-minute midnight show of red, gold, blue, and green fireworks morphed into swirls, wheels and comets as they launched off the the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sydney announced 2014 with a synchronised explosion across the harbour, including 1000 fireworks shot from the Opera House sails, as well as glittering waterfalls of fire that cascaded over the harbour. For a moment the seven tonnes of coloured fireworks seemed to turn the city's cloudy night into bright day. Malin Schumacher, 19, said the midnight display was worth the 10-hour wait. You think I'm joking, but I did start to cry. I was overwhelmed," the Swedish tourist told AAP. You have fireworks in Sweden, but there's nothing compared to this - the view, the energy, the people. Boliver Warner, 21, said the fireworks got better every year. "The older I get, the more I enjoy it," the Darlinghurst resident said. There's always something to look forward to. This year's top secret bridge effect, a highlight of the midnight display, was a 12 storey high, 72 metre wide neon eye that seemed to peer around the harbour. Had the eye opened just a couple of hours earlier, it may have spotted the more than 100 seafairing revellers who had to be helped to safety when their boats began sinking in the harbour. In Victoria, more than 500,000 revellers packed the city centre to see 7.5 tonnes of fireworks launched into the sky from 22 locations, including city rooftops, by a team of 44 pyrotechnists. Police in both states were out in force on the night at celebration hot spots. An ever present threat of rain took nothing away from the largest fireworks show in the city's history. The skies above the river city were lit up by 30,000 pyrotechnic effects fired from three barges and three city rooftops at 8.30pm and midnight. Thousands of people braved cold weather in Canberra's Civic Square to hail the New Year with music and fireworks launched form City Hill and the roof of the Canberra Theatre Centre. In Tasmania, tens of thousands converged on the waterfront and Salamanca, where the state's biggest food festival, Taste, combined with the finish of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Partygoers who weren't napping after a night of gorging on fine food witnessed fireworks exploding over the docks at midnight. South Australia sang in the new year with live music in Adelaide's Elder Park, where local bands provided the entertainment, along with a fireworks display. The new year will prove dangerous for some, with residents in parts of regional South Australia urged by authorities to leave their homes and seek safety as "catastrophic" fire danger conditions are predicted for January 1. Western Australia largely left its patch of sky alone on the night, with Perth saving up its big pyrotechnics display for Australia Day.