Australia - Sydney Part 1

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We arrived in Sydney at around 9am after the flight from the Gold Coast and were picked up and taken to our accommodation near the airport in a suburb of Sydney called Tempe where we would see in the new year (accommodation in the city centre was all booked up). The accommodation is a B&B with 9 rooms and is quiet apart from the planes going overhead every 5 minutes. As it was early we were unable to check in until the afternoon so we took a train into the CBD which only took 15 mins and picked up our passports from the Indian Passport Service who processed our visa's in 3 days without any problems (it would have taken 6 weeks in the UK!).

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On Tuesday we again got the train into the CBD and made our way to Circular Quay by Sydney Harbour to see the sights and to have a walk around in order to try and find a good spot to watch the fireworks on New Years Eve (Or NYE as all the signs say here). We ended up at Mrs Macquaries Point which had amazing views of both the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, needless to say we gave our memory cards a battering by taking loads of photo's.

On NYE we were up early so we could get a good spot for New Year and beat the queues....or so we thought. We got to Mrs Macquaries Point when it opened at 10am only to find that 8000 or so people had beaten us to it! We joined the queue where we would spend the best part of 4.5hrs, this wasn't helped by there being little shade and that it was 32oC (not that we are complaining about the sunshine!). Once inside we found a good spot with views of the Harbour and had a 9.5hr wait until midnight.

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The time went relatively quickly and at 9pm there was a 'family fireworks' display which was pretty good and got everyone in the mood for midnight. By this point we had noticed that there were hardly any Australians among the people there who must have been put off by the queues of foreign backpackers getting drunk on cheap alcohol!

By 11.3opm we stood up to grab a place where we could see both the Opera House and Harbour Bridge and waited for the countdown. When midnight came the fireworks were incredible and by far the best we have ever seen. They were made even better by the fact that they came off the iconic Harbour Bridge and the other buildings of the Sydney skyline. After the fireworks and trying to take photo's at night (some good many bad) we quickly left in order to try and beat the rush and somehow managed to get to the station board a train and be back at our B&B by 1am!

Sydney Skyline
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We had a lie in the next morning and didn't wake up until 11.05am meaning that we had missed new year in the UK by 5mins so we had a lazy day and went into the city to have a drink. On friday we visited Chinatown and the markets where you could find all sorts of souvenirs and general tat that markets tend to provide (Teresa loved it!). The markets were heaving with people though so thankfully we didn't hang around for too long.

On Saturday we checked out of the B&B and heading to our new Hostel in the Kings Cross area of Sydney which is colourful to say the least. The Hostel is in a good location though and within walking distance of the harbour and provides a free breakfast every morning which is good.

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The next day we went for a walk around Potts Point and Mrs Macquaries Point before having lunch in the Botanic gardens. We then headed for a walk around the Opera house and took numerous arty photos's of the famous sails before heading around an area called 'The Rocks' to the Harbour Bridge to take even more photo's (from different angles!). In the afternoon we went to the Guylian Chocolate Cafe on the harbour as Teresa really wanted to go there as she loves their chocolate sea shells and had a hot chocolate along with a Raspberry and Dark Chocolate cheese cake. I just had a coffee as the cafe was inconsiderate and put hazelnuts in everything!

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On Monday we headed to the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) for the 3rd day of the Australia vs South Africa Test Match, it was also Jane McGrath Day (the wife of Glenn who died of cancer last year) and everybody was encouraged to wear pink, I had unfortunately left my pink t-shirt at home so couldn't join in but the day still raised A$320,000 for charity. The cricket was good, we had great seats and were having beers in the sunshine and we even saw Shane Warne! The day was marred when Teresa committed an act of high treason by actually cheering when the Aussies took wickets - disgraceful! It was also funny when the crowd started cheering when the sun went behind a cloud to provide some welcome shade. Now that wouldn't happen at Lords!

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Happy belated New Year to everyone, until next time.

Barney & Teresa x