The Start of Sydney – Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013!


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April 18th 2013
Published: April 18th 2013
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Mark and I were getting the same flight time over to Sydney but on different aeroplanes so we left each other at Melbourne and reunited at Sydney airport. My flight was horrible, turbulent and what felt like the longest 90minutes of my life. I was so happy to land. According to Mark his flight was one of the best he has ever had! Who said budget airlines were pants ey?

So we landed on time and met at the airport and planned to head into the city together. Mark knew some of Sydney so he said he would help me find where I was supposed to be going. I had arranged to meet my sister’s friend Jemma who very kindly offered to look after me for a while. My phone battery had died and I needed to find out from Jem where I needed to go to meet her. We had arranged to meet at her work but I had the address on my phone, which was of course dead.

Mark and I got on the train to Central and when we got off Mark had decided that he wanted to go straight off to his hostel in Kings Cross. I was pretty annoyed as I didn’t have a clue where I was, or where I was going and he had offered to help me but then backed out due to his mighty hangover after his heavy night out in Melbourne the night before; which ended up in me having to get access into his hostel room and waking him up with only minutes to spare as he was too comatosed to answer his phone in his drunk state. I luckily managed to get him up and out in time for us to get to the airport without missing our flights!

I had a strop and Mark decided he would help me (men hate strops and I’m pretty good at them!) So we wandered out of the train station and found the nearest place that would let me use their plug socket. I managed to get the address and take a picture of the text on my camera as my phone battery wouldn’t last long with only a couple of minutes charging.

Mark and I went our separate ways and I headed off down to Circular Quay to see if I could find where Jemma worked to drop my bag off and say hi! I got off the short train ride and walked out of the station to find in front of me was the famous Oprah House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was magnificent! I immediately forgot my bad mood and looked around with the sun shining, the buzzing tourists around me and the amazing sites of the Quay. I had not really realised how amazing this may be and I had never thought that one day I would be able to see it in real life! It was stunning and the amazing photos just don’t do it justice!

Me and my backpack (which I had begun to hate by now) took ourselves on a short walk to find Jemma’s work and surprisingly for me I didn’t get lost on the way! Jemma works for a Media Company so the office and the people in it were all so trendy, so you can imagine the faces they pulled when little old me turned up looking dreadful with a huge backpack on!!

Jemma came down as soon as she knew I was there, she looked gorgeous and so happy! She gave me a big hug and welcomed me to Sydney! I was still in a great mood and couldn’t wait to go exploring. Jemma had arranged for somebody to take my backpack to hers for me so that I didn’t have to have it with me all day.

I walked back to the Quay and got some lunch and just sat in the sunshine relaxing for a couple of hours. It was bliss and I was so happy. I then decided I would take a little walk around, get some pictures and explore the Oprah House, it was pretty impressive! Leading up to the Oprah House there were lots of bars and shops, and a lot of tourists!

I met Jem after she finished work and we jumped back on the train to central (where I had got in a bad mood with Mark) and walked to hers which was just 10 minutes up the road. I was back pack free and realised how easy the trains were in Sydney. Jem and her fella Steve’s apartment was gorgeous, stylish and homely; plus I had my own room and shower!

We got ready to head out as we were meeting Sam and Karen (2 other of my sister’s friends that I have known for years that moved out to Sydney) for dinner. We went out for a Thai with BYO and chatted for a few hours about what we had all been up to. It was so nice to see them! I was pleased to get home to bed though as I was shattered from the early start that morning! Most of you know how much I value my sleep!

The next day I met Grace who I had first met in Ayutthaya in Thailand and we went into the City for some lunch and a bit of shopping. It was great to catch up and swap stories! I needed some new clothes as I felt like such a traveller with my denim shorts and basic top from Thailand on. In Sydney it’s quite easy to spot the travellers as they all have the certain look – anyone that’s been travelling knows what I mean.

That evening I headed home to call Jem and find out what she was doing. She was in a bar celebrating breaking up from work for 2 weeks for the Christmas holidays and so I went along to join in. Karen was there along with Steve and lots of Jemma’s other friends. We all had a few glasses of fizzy and had a giggle; her friends were great and I was so happy in Sydney.

The following day I didn’t do much, a bit more exploring around the City and spent some time chilling out. The Sunday it was my mum’s birthday so I had a nice Skype session with her in the morning before heading out to the Carrols in the Domain with Sam. The Carrols in the Domain is a free day/evening event where lots of families and friends head down with a picnic and some booze to enjoy free entertainment and music to celebrate Christmas. It’s a bit cheesy but it definitely got me in the spirit. We had candles and sang Christmas songs all night!!

One of the things on my bucket list was to spend Christmas day on the beach in Sydney wearing a Christmas hat. I decided that was what I was going to do. I found out that there was a day festival going on at Bondi Beach on Christmas Day and decided that was how I was going to spend the day. I was so excited for it – a warm Christmas Day with some beers and good food. Perfect.

So Christmas Day came along and I woke up feeling really strange. There was no stocking outside of my bedroom door, no snuggly PJs, no smell of turkey cooking, no noise coming from the kitchen, no tree, no presents, nobody making salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast and nobody toasting to the festive day. I missed home, I really missed home.

I got up and looked out of the window to find that the UK had sent over the bad weather for me and it was grey and raining. Perfect day for the beach! Not. I got ready, put my Christmas hat on, wished Jemma and Steve a Merry Christmas and headed off to the Wake up Hostel where I had booked my tickets from and they had organised free transport for everyone to get to Bondi Beach. I got into the Hostel and there were lots of people there getting ready for the day ahead. We were given a couple of glasses of free bubbly and then we all loaded onto the coach; it overloaded with travellers wanting to enjoy what felt to me like the weirdest day in the world. There we were singing Christmas songs as loud as they could whilst everyone was back in the UK asleep all cosy in bed on Christmas Eve.

We arrived at Bondi Beach and the weather was even worse; the wind had picked up, the rain was that kind of wet rain that doesn’t seem like it’s raining too much but you are soaked within seconds of being in it, and it was cold. Not quite how I had imagined it to be. We all stood outside waiting to get into the Pavilion where the festival was, and after what felt like ages they let us pile in. First stop the bar…

It was great to find out that they had a half price drink promotion from 12pm – 3pm and so the drinks began flowing and the free BBQ was ready – Steak with salad. It was not as delicious as it sounds. Oh well, mass cooking can’t be done perfectly unless you work as top chefs!

There was an outside DJ and a grass area to dance on which was of course empty to begin with, but after a while a few people braved dancing in the rain – I was not one of them! There was also an inside area where I decided to locate to with a couple of girls who I got talking to at the bar.

The atmosphere still felt extremely weird, it is hard to explain how it was unless you were there, but I continued to try and ignore the fact that I missed home and I had a giggle with the girls and a little boogie. The music was really good and the mood lifted a little; especially when a girl from the crowd who seemed pretty drunk decided that she would make a circle around her and start her own little entertainment show! She was doing rolly pollys, crazy dancing, riding around on a giant candy Cain like it was a horse; it was really amusing and she definitely got the crowd going! All of a sudden another girl walked into the circle with a dustbin (one of those ones we have at home outside that the rubbish men collect…) and she proceeded to dance around it. I thought ok, random but hey; whatever floats your boat! Then all of a sudden the lid of the bin flies open and out pops some random guy! The girl who started the dancing circle pushed the bin over but the guy managed to jump and land on his feet – it was pure luck and he wouldn’t have been able to do it again if he tried, but it was hilarious! I know this is one of those stories where you probably had to be there to find it funny but everyone loved it and cheered! I was cracking up!! Typical bunch of twenty something’s trying to distract and entertain themselves on a rainy Christmas Day.

The day went on a little more and I made the most I could out of the cheap drinks as you do when you’re a traveller – or actually at any time; everyone loves a cheap drink!! I had a phone call from Mark who told me that he had arrived so I went to meet him and his friends from the hostel. Things started to get blurry and the room was so crowded as everyone who was at the festival was squeezed in there and I decided that I had taken advantage of the cheap drinks a little too much, so I decided that I would get some food in me to soak it up; especially as I barely ate any of the steak and salad. There were no other food places in the pavilion and so I thought I would run over and grab something from the shops over the road, I also thought it would be good to get some air.

The bouncers then informed me that I was not allowed back in after leaving, and after explaining to them that I just wanted a little food to soba me up they still denied me having access back in as that was there policy. So pretty annoyed I just decided to leave, there is no reasoning with most bouncers in this Country.

I went over to find somewhere to get some food and the only place open was Macca’s (McDonalds to us English), and so there I sat on Christmas Day early evening with a big mac meal. Marvellous. Feeling homesick and very un-festive I decided to head back. All I longed for was to be at home with my family. I arrived back at Jem’s, had a shower and put on some warm clothes, Jemma and Steve were still out and weren’t due home til much later on that evening. I put on the TV and the only Christmas themed thing I could find on the TV was the best thing that described how I was – Home Alone. I’m so good at feeling sorry for myself at the best of times but this was just something else! Ha-ha. I chilled out watching the film and just went to bed early. I was glad to get Christmas out of the way.

Boxing Day was a new day and I decided to leave Christmas behind along with my bad mood and so I got up and went out to meet Mark for the day. The weather was gorgeous again. We headed down to the Rocks and went to a lovely trendy bar called the Argyle.

<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A bit of History about the Rocks for you….

<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Rocks<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> is an urban locality, tourist precinct and historic area of Sydney's city centre, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, immediately north-west of the Sydney central business district. The Rocks area is immediately adjacent to Circular Quay on Sydney Cove, the site of Australia's first European settlement in 1788.

<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Rocks became established shortly after the colony's formation in 1788. The original buildings were made mostly of local sandstone, from which the area derives its name. From the earliest history of the settlement, the area had a reputation as a slum, often frequented by visiting sailors and prostitutes. During the late nineteenth century, the area was dominated by a gang known as the Rocks Push. It maintained this rough reputation until approximately the 1870s

<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">By the early 20th century, many of the area's historic buildings were in serious decay. In 1900, bubonic plague broke out, and the state government resumed areas around The Rocks and Darling Harbour, with the intention of demolishing them and rebuilding them. More than 3800 houses, buildings and wharves were inspected and hundreds demolished, but the continuation of these plans were brought to a halt due to the outbreak of World War I. During the 1920s, several hundred buildings were demolished during the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. However, the outbreak of World War II once again stalled many of the redevelopment plans, and it was not until the 1960s that serious attempts to demolish much of the area were revived.

<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In 1968, the state government gave control of The Rocks to the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority, with the intention of demolishing all the original buildings, re-developing them as high-density residential dwellings. In February 1971, a group of local residents formed the Rocks Residents Group to oppose the plans. They felt that the new dwellings would result in increased rents, which would force out the traditional residents of the area. The residents' group requested a Green ban from the Builder's Laborer’s Federation, who had become increasingly active in preventing controversial developments over the previous four years.

<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">By 1973, the union had imposed the ban, and after discussions with the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority, a 'People's Plan' was developed. By October 1973, it appeared that the redevelopment would proceed as originally planned, using non-union labour. For two weeks, demonstrations by local residents and unionists followed, with numerous arrests being made. Liberal Premier Robert Askin was in the midst of an election campaign, and used the protests as a means of conveying his law and order message to voters. However, the green ban stayed in place until 1975, when the state union leadership was overthrown, and was ultimately successful, as can be seen in the buildings that survive today. Instead of demolishing The Rocks, renovations transformed the area into a commercial and tourist precinct.

<em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Today the Rocks is a partly gentrified area, but still contains a significant proportion of Housing Commission properties, and there is still a significant problem of urban poverty and street crime in this district. As housing stock becomes dilapidated, government policy is to sell the now extremely valuable public housing units to private owners, in the expectation that they will restore the properties.

Mark and I sat around having cocktails and discussing the day before and I of course had to explain where I disappeared to! Most people who have been out drinking with me know that somewhere along the line I will get lost somewhere or disappear for some reason or another as I have found a new friend or I’ve found some harmless mischief to get up to. The day was good, lots of cocktails were had and we ended up going to the side bar as it is a backpacker bar and this of course means – cheap drinks! Yay! It was a great day!

As NYE began approaching I was trying to decide what to do as another thing on my bucket list was to watch the NYE fireworks at the Harbour Bridge. As you can imagine the prices of entry to bars around the Bridge was ridiculous, ½ hour boat trips were over $300, the Oprah House Bar entry was $200 with a free meal – so there was no way I was going to be able to pay for that – especially as I had recently checked my bank account for the first time since leaving the UK. That was a shock.

I eventually arranged to spent it with Karen at a house party she was going to where the apartment had a perfect view of the bridge. The party was great fun, met some new people we had some nice bubbly and I turned up with a box of Goon (traveller style). I bought the best looking box of goon mind you – and I was not the only one at the party that had it so I wasn’t completely out of place! We watched the fireworks at 9pm and the big performance by Kylie Minogue at 12pm. She was there to celebrate her 25th Anniversary in the pop world and she had some luscious red lips in the fire work display! It was a great set of fireworks but unfortunately I only got a couple of good pictures. We all wished a happy new year and enjoyed the rest of the evening. It was a great way to see the New Year in and it was so much better than Christmas Day!!

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