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Published: February 17th 2006
'Twas the night before Christmas
Clare, Heather and Debs with rum balls! - The before photoMerry Christmas and Best wishes for the New Year! In true Clarey fashion I'm sending this blog a little late (just like my Christmas Thank You cards!) But hey, better late than never!
This blog also marks 6 months of traveling - woohoo! (oh, no, that means that I only have 6 months left... )
I've just about recovered from the festive period and think that I can now update you with what I remember of my Xmas and New Year down under!
It all started on Christmas Eve. We got a box of Goon (fine Australian wine,… in a box) to drink whilst we were getting ready and then headed out to a bar in a hostel in town called ‘side bar’. The atmosphere was great; everyone had their Santa hats on and was getting into the festive spirit. We got together a little family of people that we had all met/knew from our travels. I managed to meet up with Tamsin - a girl that I had been travelling with in Cambodia and a couple of girls that heather and debs had been travelling with in Thailand and Serena met up with Mel (who she had
Getting into the festive spirit
Slowly going downhill - The during photo been travelling with before settling in Australia) and Andy (Mel’s boyfriend) again.
As midnight was rung in by the chimes of Big Ben, I rang home … well, standing next to a speaker blaring out music I couldn’t hear anything and in my slightly inebriated state I got somewhat upset that I wasn’t back in Blighty… so I had another drink!...
Woke up on Christmas morning slightly confused - it was high 30 degrees heat and sunny and I’m sat opening presents wrapped in Christmassy paper - just weird! Thanks to all who managed to send me presents via mum and dad… it was lovely to have something to open on Christmas morning. (Especially some Haribo from Claire! :o) X)
We’d been shopping for food the night before, after a couple of drinks in town, and Deb’s had been set the task of getting the sausages for a fry up on Xmas morning. We didn’t realize that these were cheese and chicken sausages until we came to cook them the next morning - an alternative Christmas in every way! However, they did the trick and I even managed to wash them down with a bit of bucks
Christmas Eve
Smiling to the sound of Big Ben ringing in Christmas! The after photo! fizz!
We made our way to Bondi eventually at about 2pm. Flaked out on the beach for a bit, sat on the sand, went for a dip in the sea, ate a mince pie - like I said, just another regular Xmas day!
Then later in the afternoon, we headed over to the Pavilion for a dance festival that we had tickets for. Started by having a can of Smirnoff ice (they didn't have any sherry!) and another mince pie! Watched Judge Jules playing, who was Awesome! One of the girls and I managed to get right to the front of the crowd and stood squashed up against the barrier bopping about to the beats - was great fun! I even got to shake the magic hands of the man himself! There were lots of people dressed up again with Christmas accessories (big blow up santas, xmas themed thongs, and we're not talking the foot wear, and lots and lots of daft hats!) and had it not been for them I wouldn’t have thought it was Christmas day!
When the dancing had finished we headed up onto the high street to get some food. On the way
Xmas day on Bondi beach!
Cliche, I know, but don't you wish you were here! nuh nuh nee nuh nuh! I was chatting to some random guy in a kilt who turned out to be from Ferryhill… of all places!!! (For those of you uneducated in the small villages of County Durham, Ferryhill is a tiny village next to the tiny village of Bishop Middleham where I grew up, like half way around the other side of the world!) Anyway, ended up in an Indian restaurant where the girls had a curry, I mean, how else would you expect us to end an alternative Christmas day?!
Woke up on Boxing Day morning and had to go to work. But it could hardly be called work; we were going to witness one of the biggest events on Sydney Harbour - the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race. The morning was a bit of a mad panic with us selling tickets for the boats and people fighting over the last handful of spaces right up to the last minute! But then we were allowed to go out on the old paddle wheeler showboat to see the start of the race. We got a spot right at the front of the boat (many thanks to Tamsin who had come along
Mince Pie on the beach!
Most weird - but Yummy! to see the race too) and I decided to have a mince pie to celebrate! It was an amazing sight to see nearly 90 yachts with their sails up racing around the harbour before the start of the race, there were also as many spectator boats all trying to get the best vantage spot, as well as about 15 helicopters in the air recording all the activity for the news stations and then there was the airplane doing its sky writing thing too! It was a hive of activity and as the time grew closer for the start of the race everything out there at that time was pushing and shoving for the best spot! When the gun finally went off you could feel the electricity in the air as the many yachts set off in an attempt to beat the record. Then we headed back into the harbour to continue working.
Later that evening we went to the cinema to see The Chronicles of Narnia. It reminded me of being a little girl again and watching the box set that I had! Just wish I had the wardrobe to transport me to New Zealand too!
Not a
An alternative Christmas
Mince pie and a can of Smirnoff Ice - classy laydee! lot happened between then and New Year’s Day, except work work work (gosh, it’s a hard life!) But we did find out that Wild Oats won the Yacht race in a record time of 1 day, 18 hours and 40 mins! Should have put a bet on… doh!
I even had to work on New Year’s Eve during the day. But by 1 o’clock I was outta there! The boss very kindly bought us some drinks at the bar across the road and after 2 glasses of sparkling wine I was starting to feel a little bit more in the party mood! We were conscious that we had to get across to the Botanical Gardens to grab a good spot to see the fireworks from, and there were rumours that they would start to get full pretty soon!
I was in touch with Tamsin who had again braved the crowds and managed to bags a great spot right opposite and overlooking the Harbour bridge and the Opera house. I settled into my space and celebrated with a Mince pie (do you see a theme developing here!? So there were 8 in a pack... I had to eat them
The Sunbeats festival
Dancing as the sun goes down. all!)
Did you know that the world is a small place,… Sian and her friend were sat about 2 meters away from me also waiting for the fireworks! (the same girl that I had randomly sat next to in an internet café in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia)… v. weird!
It was an absolute scorcher of a day and we were sat out in the sun with no shade so I went to get some water from the water fountain in the gardens… well, over 2 hours later I returned just as the sun was setting… grrr! However, we had been entertained by the token Geordie who was getting everyone in the line to do a Mexican wave!!! The next time I went for some refreshments was to the beer tent where I got a couple of bottle of sparkling wine with which to see the New Year in!
The first round of fireworks went off at 9pm and that would have done me… I was like a kid at Christmas; getting all excited about seeing the most famous fireworks in the world! Then when they went on for about 15minutes, I couldn’t believe it… I was
Judge Jules
The Legend himself! now ever more excited about the midnight ones! A couple of hours (and bottles of wine) later and the countdown began for midnight. A projection on the towers at the end of the bridge counted down from 10 and then a little projection of cupid shooting an arrow light up the bridge and eventually, upon striking the centre, the heart that was the theme of this year’s new year’s celebrations. The fireworks then went on around us for the next 20 minutes! Which gave me time to ring home and wish them a happy new year (all be it a little early!)
As a fantastic evening came to a close my housemates decided that they weren't ready to make a move, they thought that they would provide a rendition of all the Beatles songs and 'Love' themed ballads that they knew and entertain the crowds as they left the gardens?!
New Years day... Oh my god, it was the hottest day on record and didn’t I know it! There were temperatures recorded at 45 degrees, and it felt just like walking out of a refrigerator and into a sauna when we set out that morning. You just had
Sunbeats souvenirs
It made it easier to find one another! to stand there and you were unbearably hot! But we headed across to Luna Park all the same because that day we had tickets for the music festival going on at the Theme park. We made a bee-line for all the rides... thankfully I wasn't feeling too hungover! We went on ride that tipped us upside down, spun us around and around and flung me from what felt like one side of the world to the other... but it was great fun! And all whilst watching the harbour bridge or the opera house whizzing past - quite surreal! Later in the day we headed into one part of the park that had some kiddie's slides... well, if I can't throw myself down a vertical slide on a rattan mat, god help me when I attempt to do a bungee/skydive! We finished off the day by watching Pete Murray (like the Robbie Williams of Australia!) Not sure if you guys get him at home, but he's kind of a mix between robbie the hearthrob and david gray with a little bit of james blunt thrown in for good measure! All in all, a great day out!
Well,... sorry for going
The Ballroom Paddle wheeler
The boat that we went out on to watch the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race on for so long (now you see why it takes me so long to post a blog!)
Must dash now tho cos i'm organising my onward travels... getting v. excited about mum and dad coming out too now!
Will update you all again soon (Yeah right!)
Hope everyone is well,
Clare x
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Bex
non-member comment
WOW!
Hey babe, good to see u are still having loads and loads of fun. All I can say is wow! the pictures look amazing and im sure it was even better to actually be there. Keep having fun xxx