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Happy New Year to everyone!!
Hope you had a fantastic time over the Christmas period and enjoyed all of the festivities!!
I had a brilliant time over Christmas and New Year and can't believe its gone by so fast. Christmas Day was so much fun and very different to a traditional UK Christmas day. You can't exactly go swimming in the sea on Christmas day in the UK - unless you are very brave!! We even mamaged to do some sunbathing on Christmas Day on Coogee beach. in my last blog post we were still trying to decide where to go for lunch and we ended up heading to one of the hotels in Coogee and having lunch there. We had a fish platter which included calimari, prawns and oysters (I've come to realise I don't like Oysters!!) followed by a meat platter - turkey, ham, beef wellington, veggies, gravy and cranberry sauce and then minature puddings to finish off with!
On boxing day we saw the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race which was spectacular. 110 yachts in the race surrounded by hundreds of other boats that were out there to get a look, plus everyone on land watching as well. We then walked from Bondi Beach to Coogee which was hard work but the views were amazing - I've added some links to photos at the end.
In between Christmas and New year we also had a cruise round Sydney Harbour on a tall ship and did a Hunter Valley wine tour and got to taste lots of yummy wine!!
We spent ages trying to make a decision on where to go for the fireworks on NYE and eventually decided to head to Lady macquiries chair which is right opposite the Harbour Bridge. We had heard that the capacity was 20,000 for that spot and that the gates opened at 10am but that they didn't generally get to capacity until about 3pm so we headed down at about 11am. It was a baking hot day and when we got there we realised that we should have tried to be there earlier as the queue was already massive. We eventually got in after 5 hours of queueing!! Both Lindsay and i cast out critical events management eye (!) over the set up outside the gates and were pleased to see that even in Sydney they get it worng at times - no toilets, no stewards, no refreshments!!! Luckily Mum had stocked up on water and food so we were fine. we also met some friendly English people in the queue and helped them start and finish their wine which they weren't allowed to take into the park with them. After several yes no games and other general hilarity (plus feeling a little tipsy!!), we managed to get into the park and found our spot.
The fireworks were definitely worth the 5 hour wait! The display went on for about 15 minutes but fireworks were coming from the harbour bridge (which was amazing), the top of Sydney's Skyscrapers and from barges throughout the harbour. It was fantastic and a brilliant way to see in the New year.
I'm now back in Manly for a couple of days with Lindsay to celebrate her birthday before I head to Melbourne on Monday and then on to New Zealand a week on Sunday. Mum and Dad went to New Zealand today and I will catch up with them on the South island on the 12th January. Its all a bit sad as after Monday I might not get to see Lindsay until November and we've had such a lovely time over the last few months. Still, if the next year carries on at the current racing pace I'm sure it will fly by!!
Here are some of my photos:
Blue mountains and Bondi - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91203&l=c311e&id=639730629
Christmas day - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91204&l=6a941&id=639730629
Boxing day and Beyond - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91390&l=3c69f&id=639730629
New Years eve - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92541&l=8e5a6&id=639730629
Happy 2009!!! xx
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