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Published: January 21st 2011
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31st December 2010: We've seen it on the TV, but have never witnessed the thrill of ringing in the New Year at the perfect spot on Sydney Harbour watching the stunning fireworks with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge creating an incredible iconic backdrop. To ensure this was possible we got up a 8am at our Alfred Park Accommodation hostel, (it was meant to be 7:15am but we didn't get to bed until 2:30am after chatting to our new dorm mates). We got to the Botanical Gardens around 9am to meet up with Jo's old school mates Kat, Laura and Hayley who had been waiting in the queue since 7am, so we skanked in with them. Once we were inside we went in search of the best spot and somehow fluked free wristbands into the best area in the entire park at Macaquire's chair. We made a huge picnic area using our combined bags, towels, sleeping bags, sarongs etc. took in the amazing view in sweltering heat and sunbathed feeling rather smug about our location.
The only negative was the 1 and a half hour long queue for the water fountain! We could have bought bottled water but for $4
a pop we decided we'd queue. We managed to gather about 6 empty drinks bottles to fill up which kept us hydrated for the next 12 hours along with our vodka we had smuggled in up Jo's top! The bars opened at 2pm and we got on the beers soon after – the added bonus was that for every empty beer can we gave back to the bar we got a $1 (for being eco-friendly) so we made sure we picked up any unguarded empty cans to add to our drinking kitty.
We were briefly entertained by a crazy old smack addict woman who had kayaked across the harbour to get to where we were, flashing and abusing the crowd before she was escorted away by security on a golf buggy! Then we were treated to some sky writing which included a marriage proposal, and at 9am we had preview fireworks display to whet our appetite for the main event. Our location even had the benefit of being right next to the VIP area which people had paid $360 to get into, so we got to enjoy their party music for free, and we even had a better view
than them!
At midnight we roared with excitement as the major pyrotechnics began. We jumped around like lunatics and celebrated with a few randoms we'd met during the day and then had a little dance before encouraging some passing Brazilians into a chorus of Old Lang Zein! At half 12 we were booted out by security and began winding up any Aussies within hearing distance by singing 'The Ashes are coming home'.
1st January 2011: Feeling surprisingly bright eyed and bushy tailed we headed out around lunchtime and took a walk in the sweltering heat around the centre of Sydney. Then we plucked up the courage to do the famous Sky Walk on the outside of the Sydney Sky Tower. We decided to splash out and buy the Explore 4 pass which saved us loads of bucks off entry into various other attractions. The Sky Tower fee also included the Oz Trek simulator ride which took us on a virtual tour of Australia and entry into the observation deck. Our Sky Walk was due to start at 6pm but due to some people being late it was delayed and cut short, Jo had a word with our
tour guide and managed to get us a free CD of pictures from our walk, which kept us happy. We got to see some great views of the city and with the 80mph winds blowing through our hair it was pretty exhilarating, especially with a see-through glass floor platform to look through.
Once we were back inside we spent a couple of hours enjoying the surroundings in the observatory, and as usual watched the sun go down. Then we headed to Darling Harbour to met Jo's friend and fiancé for a drink. As Jay was only wearing a vest and shorts, we were worried we might have an issue getting past bouncers so we went into the mall and bought a new shirt and t-shirt, as it turned out there were no bouncers anyway but Jay got some new clothes for the first time in a while so he was happy. After a drink and a chat we grabbed a cab back to the hostel.
2nd January 2011: We picked up our hire car in the morning and met Kat and Laura there, then headed off to the idyllic Blue Mountains, we spent the entire day there
checking out the beautiful scenery, including a huge waterfall, the Three Sisters and other rock formations. As we trekked around the mountains we spotted a discarded plastic bag full of rubbish and a camera strap hanging out of it. The fact that they had littered in a national park made us feel like the owners didn't deserve the camera back, but we thought we'd do our good deed for the day by checking the photos to see who they were, then found them further down the mountain. The European recipient wasn't particularly grateful though, especially when Jo told her she shouldn't be littering and to pick up her rubbish and put it in a bin!! After that we bought a ticket which allowed us to travel on the worlds steepest railway, a cable car and a sky ride between the mountains. We didn't make it back into Sydney until around 8:30pm and then dropped the girls off at their hostel. By that time because it was Sunday, all the guest houses and backpacker accommodation seemed to be closed, so we thought we'd make the most of our car, found a quiet street and kipped in our comfy Honda for the
night.
3rd January 2011: The next morning we checked back into Alfred Park as it was no longer charging big holiday rates and we knew our way around it. We took it easy, did some shopping, made some pasta and then headed out for Skubar's famous Monday night crab racing. We decided to be good and walk the 20 minutes to the venue to meet Jo's pals and made it there in good time, only to be held up by a power hungry bouncer who refused to let us in without ID. He said: “If you're under 25, you need ID,” I said, “ well I'm 28”, but it was no use. We had to get a taxi back to the hostel to pick up our ID and drive back to Skubar so not to miss the start of the racing – very annoying! Jo managed to get herself a crab for the first race but it turned out to be a dud and barely moved as the other 18 crustaceans headed for the finish line. Several buckets of snakebite later we moved on to a club, but after a disagreement with a moronic Aussie in the queue,
who well and truly earned a slap from Jo, we didn't go in and headed elsewhere to finish off our night.
4th January 2011: Feeling worse for wear we made the most of our digs and chilled, catching up on our Facebook photos and travel planning. Then in the evening we treated ourselves to the perfect hangover cure – Dominoes Pizza – yes they do Two for Tuesday's here too!
5th January 2011: We made the most of our last day in Sydney by visiting Australia Museum, the main highlight being the dinosaur exhibit, which was really cool. Then we wandered through Hyde Park and headed to Darling Harbour to check out Sydney Aquarium which was home to lots of sharks, turtles and the adorable but huge Dugongs. They even had exhibits which showed what sea life might look like in the future and lego statues of marine creatures including an enormous life size Great White Shark. As the sun started to go down we headed back to the hostel, packed up and just before midnight we grabbed a cab to the airport, thinking we could chill there until we could check in at 4am for
our flight to Melbourne. Unfortunately a rather jobs worthy security guard kicked us out of the terminal and said we reopen at 4am come back then! So feeling rather like tramps we kipped on the benches for a couple of hours along with several other travellers who obviously had the same plan as us to save a nights accommodation fees! Luckily the terminal reopened at 3am so, we could get back in the warm and wait for our flight in the much comfier chairs.
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