A random night about a month ago we decided to go to Sydney for NYE so the first thing we did was look for flights, where much to our surprise there were plenty available. I later discovered that the Melbourne to Sydney flight route is the busiest in the world. The flights were reasonably priced so we thought we’d book something and stay there for a night or two and make a bash of it. Our plans were looking good until we began looking for accommodation where we fast learnt that there was nothing available for a single night or two and the only accommodation that could be booked was for a minimum of 7 nights with each night costing anywhere between $500-700 Australian dollars per night, now that was hefty.
We decided to go on a smash and grab trip where we’d go in the morning and spend the day there, do the countdown, party for a few hours then return to Melbourne. In total it was going to be a door to door trip of about 28 hours straight. With the assistance of our good friend red bull, we were brave and game enough to embark on this marathon.
Awake at 5.30am on the 31st of December and off to the airport to get our flight at 8.30am. A hearty breakfast at the airport which included a beer got the engine kick started. The flight was a short 1 hour journey so we were in Sydney before you could say ‘I need a red bull’!
It was overcast but humid which was comfortable. With time pressing we had to get right into the mix so we grabbed a taxi and off we went. Our taxi driver was a Bangladeshi fellow who suggested we go straight to ‘The Rocks’ area to kick off our day. He was super friendly and even gave us a section of his newspaper which had all the things to do in Sydney for New Years Eve. Much to my amazement I noticed that he was not wearing his seatbelt which was rather strange as all the cabbies in Melbourne wear seatbelts so I had to query him about this. He said that some time ago a cab driver in Sydney was strangled to death with the use of the seatbelt by a back seat passenger over a disagreement with the fare. Seatbelts are now optional for cab drivers in Sydney. I then asked him who he followed in the footy and he said Souths which shocked us a little because when you’re in Melbourne and you ask someone the same question they will tell you their favourite Aussie Rules team. A short one hour flight to Sydney in the same country and it’s a completely different ball game as they refer to rugby as their footy. Just a small reminder that although Melbourne and Sydney are close there are vast differences.
We got dropped off at ‘The Rocks’ and could instantly see the Sydney Harbor Bridge so we began taking snaps of it then headed in its directions so we could get on the Bridge and take some more pictures. On the way we found an awesome bookshop that had some rather peculiar books in the window that had to do with farting and a variation of Where’s Wally? which was called Where’s Bin Laden?
The view from the Bridge was fantastic and you really get to see a lot of the Sydney CBD. It takes about half an hour to walk across the bridge one way.
It was time to meet up with some friends already in Sydney who were at the Opera House, so we made plans to rendezvous at an agreed meeting point then began heading that way, well at least we thought so anyways. We totally screwed up. An American family followed us as we assured them we knew the way to the Opera House but we completely took them the wrong way. Sorry Judy!
We needed a pint to gather our thoughts so we stopped off at a German called Lowenbrau Keller and had a quick fix. Refreshing! They were typically serving 1 litre jugs of beer but unfortunately we didn’t have the time for that.
It was about 1pm and Circular Quay which is the area along the harbor where the Opera House was situated was beginning to build up with the masses ready to ring in the New Year. The locals were anticipating 1.5 million revellers along Circular Quay to catch the famous fireworks display so it was going to be mayhem. It was busy enough at 1pm so I couldn’t imagine what it would be like by midnight. We planned to avoid the area for the countdown considering there was a lockdown after 3pm which didn’t allow you to come back out of the area after that time. We were only in Sydney for a short time so we didn’t want to be stuck in the same area all day.
We eventually found our friends and proceeded to a restaurant to get some lunch into our bellies. I had toasted gnocchi which wasn’t too bad but the waiter was adamant that the gnocchi wasn’t burnt which I found strange considering I was not complaining. Guilty conscience? Hmmm!
After lunch, we explored more of the CBD until we had enough of the sightseeing and were ready to step up the drinking. We stopped off at a bottle shop to stock ourselves with liquor then made our way to our friend’s hotel room. I was the first casualty indicated by the spilling of alcohol all over the floor. Sorry Noel, Emily and Sandra! I was pissed and on my knees scrubbing away the mess! Our friends Tony and Susie, all the way from Jersey UK, finally joined us but they did have some catching up to do. They didn’t disappoint.
After a couple of hours we left the hotel to position ourselves for the countdown. The streets were so much busier than before and you could really feel the New Year buzz now. We were given a hunch to go to Rushcutters Bay as it would be a more comfortable area to watch the fireworks display. We had to split up and jump into separate cabs and Bill (our Travel YoYo programming whiz) and I were the last to jump into a cab as they were pretty hard to find. We eventually found one who in the end tried to rip us off by taking us the wrong way. Prick! Not as good as our Bangladeshi mate earlier. We couldn’t find another cab so we began to walk seeing that it didn’t seem too far away looking at it from the maps on our phones. We walked for a little the decided to ask someone how far the walk was and he looked at us as if we were crazy. “You must be out of your mind boys, that’s way too far, you need a cab!”
It’s funny how you live in a city and don’t see someone for years and then you go away and you bump into a friend! Hey Spiro, it was good to see you mate!
We eventually found a cab and within 5 minutes made it to the others who were being amused by a couple having sex in a hotel room on level 1 with their blinds wide open. Show offs!
Walking through a park we got to Rushcutters Bay, found a nice spot to camp our arses on and continued to drink until it was time for 2010. The vibe in the area was pretty subdued when we arrived and had plenty of space ensuring we were comfortable. As time went on the music began, as did the laughter and singing. We had a good view of the Harbor Bridge and Opera House, so it was a good place to be. We all bought glow sticks off three young kids who were selling them to save up for a PS3. I hope our contribution and everyone else’s was enough to get your PS3 boys!
5-4-3-2-1…Happy New Year! The fireworks were now taking the limelight. At the beginning I thought the fireworks were pretty average and could not get my head around what all the fuss was about, but as it went on it got better. The show went for 15 minutes which is a hell of a long time for fireworks. The climax I have to say was awesome. Definitely worth it, nice work Sydney!
Our flight was at 6.30am so we had limited time. We headed straight for Oxford Street to soak up a bit more atmosphere but it took us forever to get there which kind of deflated our souls a little bit. By the time we got there we were shattered. We roamed the area for a little while then got a cab and went straight to the airport. The conversation in the cab was quite interesting. The topic ‘Do you have a shower before going to bed or first thing in the morning?’ Even the cabbie got involved. I guess we all wanted a shower hey!
We found the airport closed so thanks to some smart work by Pete we found some quality benches that we could rest on. The airport opened soon after and we got ourselves some much needed breakfast. Sumo Salad was brilliant, an excellent recommendation by Tony!
We boarded the plane and headed back to Melbourne still in one piece, only just!
The only negative is that we left our camera at the table we had breakfast on at the Sydney airport, so no photos to post unfortunately but depending on the founder of the camera and their photoshop skills, you may find us on a porn site in the near future.
That was that. Another New Years gone. It was an even more worthwhile trip when we found out that Melbourne had been raining pretty much throughout New Years Eve!
All the best for 2010!
Very nice report about Sydney…although the australian part of my heart still beats for MelbourneCity…I quite like the part with the taxi driver
All people deserve good life and loans or just small business loan can make it much better. Because people’s freedom bases on money.