SYDNEY, Australia -- Lights stayed on, car motors ran and faucets produced water. The worst malfunction of the New Year was the weather.
While Australia's technology continued to work when the big moment came, chilling southern winds hindered outdoor celebrations as the year 2000 arrived in the antipodes' largest city.
Crowds had to cower against the summer cold along Sydney Harbor to watch a procession of barges bearing luminous tropical fish followed by a massive fireworks display from the harbor bridge. The final message "Eternity" was emblazoned in lights.
But the spectacle before them was not foremost on observers minds.
"Civilization didn't end at midnight!"
"Y2K was bullshit!"
At least, that's how partying Aussies viewed the New Year as they downed their first bubbly of 2000.
Reluctant to declare victory so soon, national contingency planners were maintaining an ongoing vigil on infrastructure nationwide -- but only after heaving their second big sigh of relief of the night.
The first good news came after midnight struck in the smaller cities of Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand without major infrastructure disruption.
"So far, there have been no reports of any incidents, which is fantastic news for Australia," said Senator Ian Campbell, Australia's federal government spokesman on matters Y2K.
Holed up in the government's special Y2K Coordination Center in Canberra, Campbell took pains to point out no reports of malfunctions in telecommunications networks had been reported. The fact that city lights remained on all over the country spoke for itself.
But while the key moment had passed, Campbell cautioned there could still be sporadic, non life-threatening computer difficulties for some months to come. That's because some embedded chips or software modules have slow second hands.
But given that the big meltdown clearly didn't happen at midnight, Campbell was asked what advice he'd give homeowners finding any balky home appliances malfunctioning on New Year's Day.
"I'd just go down to Burger King and forget it," Campbell said.
However, one Y2K-related problem that Sydney contingency planners hadn't considered still looms.
Drawn by the great fireworks put on for the big event, an estimated 60,000 people had crammed into roughly 10,000 boats moored Sydney Harbor for the event.
If some of the vessels owners decide not to kept their waste holding tanks to themselves, it could provide a rude New Year's surprise for harbor swimmers looking to enjoy themselves over the upcoming three-day weekend.
