BENDIGO was awash with colour and noise as revellers welcomed in the New Year.
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Cafe and restaurant staff were kept busy as people sipped glasses of champagne and enjoyed a bite to eat.
Rosalind Park was full of children licking ice-creams as they welcomed in 2013 with their families, under a sky of fireworks.
GPO assistant manager Nathan Bake said about 400 people dined at the restaurant last night.
“We are much busier than we were last year; since Christmas it’s been non-stop,” he said.
He said 95 people booked in to dine upstairs and ground-level tables were also fully booked.
Mr Bake said the weather was a factor in the number of people dining at the restaurant.
Donna and Leigh Crapper and their two-and-a-half-month-old daughter Zara enjoyed an ice-cream in Rosalind Park before heading home to watch the fireworks on television.
Ms Crapper, who is 38 weeks pregnant, said she was looking forward to welcoming a new baby into the family as well as moving into a new house in Eaglehawk.
“We have had a really busy year but it had been great,” she said.
“Hopefully that continues into 2013,” Ms Crapper said.
Gail and Mark Ryland watched the new year roll in with their friends in Rosalind Park.
After spending 2012 renovating their house, the pair said they were happy to be relaxing.
“It has been a really busy year, productive but busy,” Ms Ryland said.
“We are hoping to do some more recreational activities,” she said.
Zach Fowler and Mark Cromarty said they liked to celebrate the new year because it involved heading out with their friends.
Mr Fowler said he hoped 2013 would bring with it “more happiness to the Bendigo community.”
He said personally he hoped to set some goals and fulfil them.
“I think the new year will be about bringing people together,” he said.
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