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Published: January 1st 2006
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Happy New Year, everybody!!
We’ve been in Sydney now for three days and whilst reluctant to coin Mac’Ds marketing phrase… we ARE Lovin' It. Last night we celebrated the Hogmanay festivities with the thronging crowds between the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, so if you see any footage on the TV do watch out for us waving like idiots to the helicopters above!
It was a great night, which we kicked off at about 4pm by heading into the Circular Quay area of the city and taking a drink or two. We then sped into the night to find some snacks and struck gold at a brilliant little Italian restaurant just off George Street at the Rocks - a mere 2 mins from the place where we wanted to bring in the bells.
We had a great meal with, as you would expect, plenty wine, and hung around until 11:15pm. After this we headed down toward the quay and despite there being circa 300,000 revellers in this area, found a place with ease to watch the fireworks displays, which were splendid.
After the bells, we moseyed on up to a lively bar for a few
more sherberts, before making our way to the ferry terminal to catch our night boat back to Manly where we are staying with our good pal Paula. We got a bit lost on the way ( think 2 mile detour) but managed to get ourselves back on track (without the aid of directions from anyone or a map we might add - how good is that?!) and catch the last ferry of the night.
It’s now about 11:30am in Sydney and we’re thinking of everyone at home who will be getting ready to raise their glasses and ‘clink’ in the New Year. We’ve just been having a look at the news and apparently there were over a million people out in central Sydney to watch the various pyrotechnics across the many harbours. Out of this there were 60 arrests, however most were for minor things like using bad language (eh?) or being in possession of the odd personal use drugs. Not bad, all things considered.
Paula hasn’t arrived home yet - she didn’t join us in the city, as she was heading to a beach party near where she lives - which also sounded really exciting. The little
lady must be still having a good night wherever she is……..
Anyway - hope you’ve all got your 2006 resolutions ready; Shaz has decided to try 'new' things (so far she’s agreed to ski-ing, blue swimmer crab & lobster - we'll see how it pans out!). Alan has yet to make his proclamations but as soon as he does we’ll be sure to let you know what they are!
Other things we've done so far in Sydney include a 9k scenic walk, bit of swimming, booked a tour of back-stage at the Opera House (tomorrow morning at 7am!), and bought tickets for Madama Butterfly @ the Opera House for later in the month. We've also arranged tickets for the Big Day Out music event ( a bit like a one day T in the Park) where we'll see the White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Kings of Leon & Magic Numbers. Paula's also organsed us tickets for the outdoor cinema and we're really looking fwd to that too. This afternoon we're contemplating whether to head for the aquarium or maybe an art gallery, as its so darn hot. We have all the windows open in Paula's apartment and the breeze
is blowing in like a hairdryer on a high setting. Shaz is sitting in the lounge in a bikini! There are also massive bush fire warnings in the area at the moment due to a very low humidity level and hot winds, and we can well believe it - its a total meltdown! Something we've noticed is that Aussies have the sme weather fixation as us in the UK - only with them its heat related. EVERYONE knows what temperature its going to be each day and regularly say with a kind of surprised edge to their voice ' it's going to be HOT today, better get your sunscreen on'. As if we wouldn't!
So look, do have a great one - we're thinking of you all at home, and we’ll talk to you all soon,
Lots of love, Alan & Shaz!
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Gaz, El BG
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Happy New Year!
Happy new year, eggs! xx