Australia is well-known for having lots of creepy crawlies. Although we didn't see the pet huntsman spider that is meant to co-reside in the flat we rented, we did share it with some HUGE cockroaches, numerous caterpillars (that we finally worked out were coming from a lovely big bunch of flowers left for us), all shapes and sizes of moths, the odd mosquito and a one-legged cicada that went round in circles on the ceiling. Darren's cockroach killing skills were much honed. Out and about we saw some big dragonflies and, especially on beaches, had to battle with very persistent and pesky flies. We haven't seen any of the more cuddly Australian wildlife yet, but plenty of time for that.
The only trip we took outside Sydney was to the much visited Blue Mountains. We chose an extremely busy day. And an extremely muggy one. It was quite exhasuting battling through coach loads of other tourists around the more popular spots. The Blue Mountains are part of the Great Dividing Range that seperates a thin coastal strip of Eastern Australia from the rest of the continent. They are canyon-like (and older than the Grand Canyon) with flat-topped outcrops that drop, vertically in some places, to the vast eucalyptus filled valley floors. The numerous waterfalls in the area were disappointingly dribbly due to lots of hot dry weather recently.
We bought hop-on hop-off bus tickets so we could get around the area. First we walked from the plateau down into the valley via lots of steps, paths under overhanging rocks and lookout points. At the bottom we met all the people who had made the journey by cable-car and tried to find a quiet spot on the 'longest elevated forest boardwalk in the Southen Hemisphere' to eat our lunch. We travelled back up on the 'steepest railway in the world' - a 53 degree incline track which was built to raise coal mined on the valley floor. We then went to see the Three Sisters - a famous rock formation and the 'Most visited place in Australia after Sydney'. From here we walked along the cliff top and finally escaped the crowds. So much so that we saw a Lorikeet (a small brightly-coloured parrot) and a Lyrebird (like a large brown pheasant, but with a beautiful ornate tail with curved feathers).
Back in Sydney we needed to get visa for our visit to India and turned up at the Indian Consulate in the city centre at 10am. Visa applications are from 9am-12.30pm so we thought we'd have lots of time. They work on a numbered ticket system and we were dismayed to see that there were 40 people ahead of us. We waited and waited and the time ticked away. We got quite friendly with the people around us! We finally got seen at midday, filled in our forms, handed over payment, passports, photos, flight itineararys (think this will not be our last taste of Indian bureaucracy!) and then found out that it took 6 working days to process and we would have left Sydney by the time they were ready. Doh! That was a waste of a morning then... We had to get our money and all the documentation back and we will try again in Melbourne.
We visited Hyde Park Barracks, which was built as convict quarters and became an immigration depot, a refuge for old and destitiute women and then a court. It is now a museum and much of the building's history has been accidently preserved by rats. When it was being renovated into a museum, archaeologists found hundreds of garments and objects under the floorboards that the rats had stolen to make nests with. Lots are on display, along with an exhibition on convict transportation. There are records of thousands of convicts from the UK and Ireland who were banished and sentenced to 7 years, 14 years or life, usually for stealing a handkerchief or a similar misdemeanour - fascinating...
We caught a ferry across Sydney harbour (with great views back over the distinctive city skyline) to Manly - a resort on the north shore which has a long surf beach facing the Pacific Ocean. But we didn't come here for the surf, we came for the marine life. A walk along the coast took us into a marine reserve area, past the lovely sounding Fairy Bower Beach (where unfortunately there were less than lovely sanitary towels floating about in the water [don't flush 'em, girls, bin 'em!!]) and on to the sheltered cove of Shelley Beach. It was a scorching hot day, making the sand almost too hot to walk on, but we knew the sea would feel freezing in comparison so we did some sunbathing first and waited until we just had to cool off. The waters of the little cove were packed with snorkellers and divers. We knew there must be something good there... and there was - we saw our biggest fish yet - the huge inquistive Eastern Blue Groper! At 1.2 m long it's a good thing it's a friendly fish. We also saw dozens of huge spiny sea urchins, a big catfish, lots of strange spiky seaweed, a little jellyfish, a type of brightly patterned fish to rival those in Fiji, and scuba divers a plenty. However, we didn't see any of the 'Weedy sea dragons' which are a bit like seahorses but are disguised to look like sea weed! After a few minutes in the sea we felt like we'd got used to the temparature, but Angie had to get out after 15 minutes because of earache. No chance of getting burnt from snorkelling too long in these waters.
There is so much going on in Sydney over New Year's Eve that it's quite overwhelming. New Year's Day is also a big event. There are countless club nights, festivals, all-dayers and even a hard-trance cruise! We had decided that seeing the fireworks off the harbour bridge was our priority, but had heard that to get a good spot to watch them for free, from one of the headlands that jutt out into the harbour, you need to get there by 3pm. We didn't really fancy having the stress of the crowds and a whole day sitting in the sun ahead of New Year's Eve, so we splashed out a ticketed event at Luna Park. This is an Amusement Park that is virtually under the bridge and would give us a guaranteed view of the fireworks, along with 3 dancefloors and unlimited fairground rides all night. Yey! Who could ask for more?!
Two days before NYE Darren received the news that he had two guest-list tickets for the NYE Fatboy Slim gig on Bondi Beach. We decided to stick with Luna park for the first part of the night as it was the best spot for the fireworks and we had spent over 65 quid each on tickets, and then try to get over to Bondi for the last hour or two. As Luna Park was some distance from Bondi and there would be over a million people watching the fireworks at the harbour we weren't sure if we would make it to the beach in time, but were determined to try. It took us 90 minutes to get to Luna Park in the early evening and we nearly didn't get in as we hadn't got photo ID, but we spun a yarn about our passports being at the Indian embassy and our persistence paid off. The park was pretty good, a mixed-crowd, not too busy and in an amazing location. We went on all the rides and managed to get on the ferris wheel for the 9pm (children's) fireworks. After a bit of a dance it was time for the big event. We bagged/elbowed a good spot on the sea-wall and had brilliant views of the bridge and one of the firework barges in the harbour. The midnight display was spectacular, starting and ending with fireworks exploding in all directions from the 'big coathanger'. We could see thousands of camera flashes going off along the opposite shore and there were dozens of boats milling around, including tall ships lit up with fairy lights. It was all very impressive and we couldn't quite believe we were there.
As soon as it was over we headed off to Bondi beach, expecting masses of crowds and a disrupted journey. Surprisingly we got there in record time (the transport system here is very good, not to mention the well behaved crowds) and after some confusion on the door we picked up our VIP passes (cheers Jim, Kev, Tim). The outdoor arena was heaving with sweaty ravers havin' it under the stars so we decided to go to the VIP area (oooh lardy daah!) where we discovered a free bar - cashback! After stocking up on booze we joined the maddening crowd bouncing along to Fatboy's greatest hits. Afterwards we tried to find Darren's friend in his hotel but only succeeded in wandering the corridors and gatecrashing the room of some Ozzie ravers, but we stayed and had a drink with them anyway.
The next day we had guestlist tickets for 'Field Day' - a one day festival in a park in the centre of Sydney (where some friends of Darren's were DJing). Unfortunately this also turned out to be the second hottest day in Sydney since records began. The thermometer in the flat crept up to 39C and stayed there until 6pm! On the news we saw that it was 44C in the city centre. The heat accompanied by strong winds meant that bush fires were raging around Sydney's outskirts. There was no way we could stand being in a park all day (especially as we had taken full advantage of the free bar the night before and felt as rough as a cowboy's saddlebag). We literally couldn't even peel ourselves off the floor. After sweating out 50% of our body fluids it finally became bearable to move gingerly about the flat and even attempt to put some clothes on.
We managed to get to Field day by 8.30pm (it ended at 11pm) and after some palava with photo ID again (we're on the guestlist fer crissakes!!) stumbled into the festival. Getting on site so late we enevitably missed some big names, such as Derrick Carter and Roger Sanchez, but Bob Sinclair was playing on the massive main stage as we made our entrance, and the crowd was jumping. We went to the VIP area hoping for a repeat of last night's free bar but no such luck. While inside we kept hearing loud cheers going up from the crowd and went outside to see what all the fuss was about. The cheers were for the gusts of cool wind sweeping through the site! Most of these people had been here all day, god knows how, and the breeze was their first repsite from the blistering heat. The DJ probably thought the cheers were for his mixing...
Unfortunately the winds picked up so much that they shut the stage where Darren's mate was playing, but fortunately he got to play on the main stage instead. We boogied away till the end of his set. Then a guy came on stage and said 'Do you wanna rock?' Not many people did but they wheeled a huge drumkit onto stage anyway. Then some guys came on dressed as KISS. The KISS logo was flashed across the stage and the band launched into a song. We weren't sure whether it was a tribute or the real thing (have since found out that, disappointingly, it was the Australian tribute band), but Darren was blown away to see the band he has been taking the PISS out of for the last 4 years live on stage. They had full KISS outfits on and looked realistically bloated and middle-aged. They played one song and left behind a very bemused and confused crowd but made Darren's day, week even.
The next day, having not really recovered from our NYE/NYD outing, we did a coastal walk in blissful weather - overcast and slightly chilly! Never again will we complain about an English summer. We met up with friends in Coogee and they treated us to our first BBQ on Australian soil, which was most overdue (thanks Jim and Kelly!). Jim told us about the Australian citizenship ceremony that he recently underwent. It sounds hilarious and entails a drinking a bottle of beer, eating a meat pie and taking possession of a native plant!!
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