Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Sydney.... Christmas and New Year!!
21st December- 3rd January
What a time we've had over the last two weeks! It's hard to know where to begin so it might as well be at the start.
Sad times were afoot when we entered Sydney. After driving round pretty much the whole city looking for a car wash we handed back Laika Virgin and thanked her for getting us safely down the coast. It may have been an orange sweat box on wheels but it had been our home for over a month and it will be missed.
So 'training' it back across the city to our new digs on Bondi beach we happen upon some friends from home and exchange details. We eventually check into our hostel and find our room (it's obviously on the top floor and there's no lift!). In through the door we walk and into a wall of funky smelling trainers belonging to a Dutch surfer guy who is still asleep at 3o clock. Bags down, off exploring we go.
We didn't do much in the coming days other than eat out and soak up the sun. One of the days we ventured from Bondi to the 'nearby' Coogee beach. We say nearby because it was miles away, and decided to walk it even though most get the bus. The path along the coast though to the beach was lovely and we passed about 12 mini beaches on the way. The mini beaches offered something for everyone, Bronte was for families, Tamarama, with its colossal waves for the surfers and Gordon's for some quiet time. The walk was long but we made it to Coogee. Coogee was full of teenagers just starting their summer holidays and was bustling with activity. We found a spot and got some reading done while watching some inventive kids play cricket with a McDonald's tray!!
That evening we met up with some friends at their apartment. We very quickly ploughed through a box of goon and a bottle of red! We then headed into Bondi junction and partied the night away in the local Irish bar, called the c*** and Bull. While dancing along to the live band Mel decided to throw a glass of cider down herself and giggle in hysterics.
The following morning was a slow one, naturally. We trudged the few steps from our hostel down to Bondi beach. We sat there for a while and recovered in the sun. That night, with it being Christmas Eve and all, we decided to treat ourselves to a lovely big dinner. Bondi didn't really seem that lively but we found a pub and had a tipple. At the stroke of 12 the pub erupted with people singing Christmas songs before they called last orders. We were slightly shocked that for the entire night we hadn't heard 'A fairytale of New York' as back home a pub would have been playing it for the 15th time!
Christmas morning looked a little cloudy. We cooked up some lovely bacon sandwiches and ate them on the roof. We got our stuff ready for a beach BBQ and headed down to Bondi. Bondi was holding a beach party there and we were going to cook up a storm while sneakily drinking some goon. The only storm that cooked up on Bondi that day though was from the heavens. We walked halfway along Bondi before it started lashing it down. The clouds we hoped would pass over and give us Christmas on the beach opened up and we knew wouldn't stop for the day. We headed to our friends apartment getting soaked in the process. Only one thing to do at a time like this, drink! So we did, for the rest of the day and all of the night. No BBQ, fine, you can't beat a McDonald's anyway, so that's what we had! After a skin full of drink we braved the rain and made it back to the hostel where we Skyped family who had just been visited by Santa.
Boxing Day came around and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Just our luck! Now this would never happen back home but we decided to go the Boxing Day sales in Bondi junction! It was mental to sum it up. We left and saw out the rest of the day on the beach. That night we packed up our stuff as the following morning we were heading to a new hostel in the city.
Our new hostel was a step up from before and our roomies were really nice. We sorted our stuff out and headed off to meet Gemma, who had also just arrived in Sydney. As Gemma was only in the city for a night, we went on a sightseeing tour that involved finding a humongous Christmas tree and a lovely stroll around the botanical gardens. We headed up to see the Opera house and enjoyed a nice beverage along the bay with the stunning views of the Opera sails and the Harbour Bridge. After finding a talking dog that kept us amused we decided that it was time for another well earned drink. The bar we found was full of old Rugby boys having their annual meet up. They we all smashed but very nice blokes. One, Paul Griffin, was convinced Declan was his relative and dragged him around the whole pub introducing him to people. It was quite scary for Deccy but the girls found it hilarious. Our time at the pub ended with some Jaeger bombs bought by the guys, randomly, before we went to get ready for the night. That night we headed out for some food and more drinks before bidding farewell to Gemma.
The following day we headed out to the world famous Paddy markets. When we arrived it reminded us of being back in Thailand. The hustle and bustle of the indoor market kept us alert after a tiring night. We hunted around for some bargains and Mel found herself a lovely 'Prada' handbag!! After we headed up towards Darling Harbour. Darling harbour was rebuilt for the Sydney Olympics and has a really good feel to it. The area has a massive playground with a giant spider pyramid. Obviously Declan climbed it, much to the bemusement of the parents watching their kids being overtaken in a race to the top. We walked along the pier until we came across some street dancers. In a sort of comedy/break dance show the three blokes amazed us with their dancing while the black guy from New York sent himself up in some risky black jokes! He also mocked a Chinese guy and pretended to run off with a girl's bag. "Move in closer folks, I'm the only black guy here, I can't rob you all!!!" After a walk across the huge and windy bridge and past the 200ft flag pole that can be seen from all along the harbour we found a lovely place that did $8 steaks, and in this town that's amazing. We sorted out our trip for New Year and people watched the evening away.
Early to rise the next morning we walked back down to Darling harbour. Busy day planned today. We started off in Madame Tussauds. What a morning that was. It's strange but they really do look alive. The museum if that's what it could be called had hundreds of different figures in different zones. We started off in the history/political area, meeting Obama, The Queen and Ghandi to name a few. The place was packed with people all clamouring for photos. Naturally the Spanish, being better than everyone else, don't queue up and push their way to the front. That though isn't as bad as the Chinese who take 100 different photos with a model until their memory cards are full. On into the next zone full of sports stars. The museum is good at providing people with props they can use for the photos and Mel donned a cricket hat for a photo with Shane Warne.
Next up were singers. Lots of good photos here, Rihanna, Kylie, Gaga. There was even Sandy from grease, complete with T-bird and Pink ladies jackets. Best of the lot though was Jacko. Sparkly glove and hat props made for a cracking 'crotch grab' picture.
After came famous geniuses, Einstein obviously being there, crazy hair and all.
Then onto TV stars, Rolf Harris and Harold from Neighbours taking centre stage. We don't actually think they were models; they just paid them to stand there very still!!
Finally the tour ends with A-listers. Lots of great photos here. Mel sitting on the bike with E.T. being a highlight along with Dec with Crocodile Dundee himself. There are a million more people we could name and it was well worth the money and the annoying crowds.
That afternoon we went to the world's biggest IMAX along the harbour front. The seats are dizzily steep and the 80ft screen takes up every inch of your field of vision. We watched and enjoyed the Hobbit until the early evening. After we stretched our legs and enjoyed some dinner.
Another day and another tour around the city. This time we met up with an Irish couple from off our east coast journey. As we refuse to get the bus anywhere we journeyed throughout the streets heading towards the highest point in Sydney. The Westfield tower is the tallest skyscraper in the city and has a 360* view of the metropolis. We saw the whole city from aloft and then went to find some food. With the following day being New Year's Eve we stopped in to get a good rest.
New Year's Eve
The day started early for some in our room. Jen and Emma were up and out around 8am to go to the botanical gardens to fight for a good spot. Being the industrious mice we are, we slept in, happy in the knowledge we would have the best seats on offer that night on our boat. Around mid morning we rose and had breakfast on the way to the science museum. The Powerhouse as it is known has loads of interactive displays to play with and it kept us very happy for the day. We even got free chocolate and a ride on a penny farthing! The museum was also hosting the Wallace and Gromit exhibition complete with sets and figures from the films. The zone was mainly for kids but we scampered through Wallace's house playing with everything in sight, including the karaoke shower. We had our own attempt at making a plasticise figure before we left to get ready for our evening.
New Years night
After enjoying some pre drinking in the hostel we head down to the bistro below the hostel to strategically use our free drinks vouchers and grab a steak! Then it's off to the Harbour we go to board our boat. While waiting in the queue we meet a pair of girls from Bromsgrove called Sian and Jenni. What are the chances? We get a table together, right next to the bar, and start about our evening of partying into the New Year.
Sydney hosts 2 sets of fireworks in the harbour, the first being at 9pm. The boat pulled out and headed to the west side of the bridge. The city looked amazing from the harbour and was lighting up as the sun was setting. The 9pm fireworks, intended for kids to enjoy the night before bedtime were amazing. They were set off from both sides of the harbour and all along the bridge. These fireworks we clearly remember! They included a giant koala face filling the sky. After we spent the next few hours drinking the bar dry and eating vodka jelly the girls had made. All along the bay boats were taking up their positions for the big finale. Our boat was 1 of only 14 allowed in the 'exclusion zone'. As we sailed into position we went under the bridge and along the quayside. We passed millions of people all waiting for the show and the atmosphere was amazing. Boats in the bay all had different messages along their sides lit up in red neon.
The party on the boat was now in full swing and we stopped in our spot and made anchor. The fireworks began at 11:50 and travelled up the harbour towards the bridge and Opera house. The whole of Sydney was ablaze with fireworks heading into the final seconds of 2012. The bridge towers were lit with the countdown and a firework clock began the count in the centre. On the stroke of midnight the underside on the bridge exploded and the Opera house was adorn with colour and cheering. The whole boat shook as we watched on. The deafening sound of a million fireworks ringing in the New Year. Launched from numerous places across the city. Boats in the harbour set off their fireworks and the night turned into an array of colours. The boat rang out with the first verse of auld Lang sign, no one on earth knows the rest. As merry as we were we had the insight to film it, watch it at your pleasure in the video section because as talented as we are at writing, we can't do the event justice!!
The party continued into the night with us making some Finnish friends and Sian passing out on the table. When we finally got back into port we shuffled along the busy streets back to the hostel. What a night we had had, worth every cent we had paid for the memories we've now got.
New Year's Day was a quiet one in room 123. No one stirred until the afternoon and we all shared our stories of the night before. We left for some lunch and ended up at the Chinese Gardens. These gardens were a gift from the Chinese government to the growing community in the nearby Chinatown. The gardens were full of different Chinese ornaments and features. The purpose built waterfall and lake made for a relaxing afternoon walk complete with tea and scones. In the late afternoon we headed to Hyde Park to check out the Anzac museum. Anzac is acronym for the Aussie and New Zealand army corps. Australia does war memorials really well, every east coast town we visited has one. They really do their fallen troops honour. The Hyde park museum is no different and it chronicles the Australia effort in the Second World War. After we retired to the room for some much needed sleep. There wasn't a soul awake past 10!!
On our second last day in Sydney we kept up the pace. If people ever tell you there isn't anything to do in a city, well they're daft. We grabbed some breaky and headed towards Hyde park again. Up next to the children's hospital there was a big brass pig. Now with time the pig has weathered and the whole thing is black, except his lucky nose. Apparently if you rub the pigs nose with water it will bring you good luck. So with all this rubbing it has left his hooter all shiny and gold.
We walked onwards towards the barracks museum. This place was built to house all the convicts when they first were sent over from Britain. The building was three levels jam packed with everything you'd need to know about how Sydney came to be. The ground floors let people dress up like convicts and lock them in chains, so we both obliged. It also told how the aussie governor used the convicts to build half the city and keep them in order. The middle floor told of the orphans and beggars that were rounded up in Ireland and shipped over, many of them being young girls. The top floor was made up exactly how the inmates would have had it, 600 of them in hammocks crammed into a tiny room. The centre also had a database of all the people that came over from Britain and Ireland, our family names didn't yield any results, but Declan's grandmothers did, so we printed it off to send over to her. After the museum we trekked all the way through the botanical gardens until we came to Macquarie's chair. A rock shaped like a chair overlooking the whole harbour. It was here that we saw the millions of Sydneysiders standing during new year. We checked out the lookout spot and it confirmed to us that we still had the best view on the night. Along the way home we decided to stop off in St Mary's church to have a nose around at the nativity scene and to light a candle for a good year ahead.
We got back to the room and found its inhabitants looking bored. We suggested we all drink while packing our cases. This drinking inevitably led to going out for some food and more drinks to celebrate our last night in Sydney.
Our final day in Sydney came and will still packed some long distance walking in. We trudged all the way up Darling harbour hill until we came to the Sydney observatory. The place was free to look around so we did. Mel then did an excellent job of keeping Declan out of the Lego room long enough for us to leave. We relaxed on the hill and took in another view of the city. We took a detour through 'The Rocks' along the way back to sneak in another free museum! The Rocks were the city's slum town back in the day and the people there were/are very proud of that fact. The slum meant that everyone was equal and it didn't matter what colour or creed people were. This mainly meant the Irish would gamble and drink with the Aborigines while the Chinese looked on in delight. The rich Brits hated this and tried many times to knock the area down, and after they left the Aussie's tried the same but to no avail. This all means it's one of the few places in Sydney with no high rises, it is made up of cobbled streets and old Victorian pub. After all this we were pooped. We headed back to get our bags and lunch and plodded off down to the station.
2 great weeks in Sydney over, we could mention a heap more stuff we got up to but we'll save that for another time. Our next leg takes us down to Melbourne.
- comments