Sydney on NYE!! Nice!
Trip Start
Oct 04, 2004
1
58
102
Trip End
Ongoing
Sydney,
Australia
Friday, December 31, 2004
Everybody knows that Sydney is now one of the most popular destinations to watch the New Year to come in. Because of this we planned to get a good view point early, 10am early. Yes it was 14 hours until the big countdown, but I didn't want to have to be fighting Japanese Tourists for space come midnight.
We never actually thought that we would get anywhere as good as what we got, but we managed to actually get a seat outside the Opera House, with a perfect view of the bridge
01. Our View of the bridge
. Every area that has a viewpoint is fenced off, making you have to enter through gates. It is here where your bags are searched for alcohol. Now I'm not sure if they employed the security from the local 'blind' school, but we all managed to smuggle it in, Alex even managing to get a full 2 litre bottle of gin through. Let's hope they didn't miss any bombs that could have been brought in!Speaking of Alex, he, along with most of our old friends from the Kiwi Bus had now arrived in Sydney, meaning that along with Holly, T, Kate, Dan and James arriving later, there were about 15 people; it should be a very big party!
14 hours to wait is a very long time, especially when you haven't got anything to read. Luckily I had remembered my cd player and speakers, so at least we were kept entertained for a while. With not much else to do, we just sunbathed. It was a glorious day, about 33 degrees, so we all made sure we coated ourselves in the factor 30, it was a shame that I forgot about my face - as you can see in the photo with me James and Dan above! We also kept ourselves amused by recording an hourly countdown on my Video camera. It's quite funny to watch as we get noticeably drunker, the later it got!
02. How close we were to the opera House
Holly and T were flying in from Melbourne about 6pm, not really leaving enough time to get here. James, Dan and Kate picked them up from the airport and rushed back to the hostel to get changed. The problem was James takes too long putting on his makeup, meaning by the time they got to the gates, our section was full. Somehow, Kate, James and Holly got in, but T and Dan weren't as lucky.
Standing with thousands of others outside at 11pm, it didn't look good, until T had the 'great' idea of squeezing through the gates to join me and Holly. Although this was a good idea, everyone else noticed it, meaning in no time flat, people were squeezing through any gaps and jumping the fences, running to the safety of the crowds inside. The problem with this was the security had now got wind of it and started grabbing people, including Holly and I. They wouldn't have believed us if we told them we were already in, so we just broke away from them and scarpered! If I hadn't got in after waiting there all day I wouldn't be happy!
Now for the next problem. Because we had all ran in different directions, we lost each other. Because they didn't know where we were all sitting, everyone was walking around lost
03. Me outside the Opera House
. And you all know how hard it is to get through on a mobile on NYE?!Eventually we found everyone with 10 minutes to go, so all the party was finally together! But after all that it was worth the wait, the fireworks were amazing, and I could see why people travel around the world to see this every year. Sods law my camera's battery ran out just before 12, so I haven't got as many photos as I would have liked to get. Typical!
This year Sydney's Authorities had hanged an enormous silver ball from the bridge. It had been there for a week and everyone was talking about it, wondering what was going to happen to it through the firework show. Sadly nothing did. Which led to everyone there, staring at this ball for 10 minutes after the show, waiting for something amazing to happen! A bit of an anti-climax! Apparently it was supposed to be included in a light show, but it was too cloudy?! Feeble excuse!
We all finished the night in Sydney's biggest nightclub, Home. Hed Kandi, a club night from England was running a night there, so we followed the thousands of people through the streets of Sydney, to Darling Harbour. You would think that this would be a simple enough task, but not for Dan, who somehow got lost
04. More of the Opera House
! Eventually finding his way 2 hours later meeting us in the club!It would be a NYE I would never forget!
Joke of the Day
TOP 5 SMART Arse ANSWERS FOR 2004...according to Reader's Digest
Smart Arse Answer #5:
A flight attendant was stationed at the
departure gate to check tickets. As a man approached, she
extended her hand for the ticket and he opened his trench
coat and flashed her. Without missing a beat....she said,
"Sir, I need to see your ticket not your stub."
Smart Arse Answer #4:
A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys
at the grocery store, but she couldn't find one
big enough for her family
05. Another one for good measure!
. She asked a stock boy,"Do these turkeys get any bigger?" The stock boy
replied, "No ma'am, they're dead."
Smart Arse Answer #3:
The cop got out of his car and the kid who
was stopped for speeding rolled down his window.
"I've been waiting for you all day," the cop said.
The kid replied, "Yeah, well I got here as fast as
I could." When the cop finally stopped laughing, he
sent the kid on his way without a ticket.
Smart Arse Answer #2:
A truck driver was driving along on the
freeway
06. Sunbathing by the Opera House
. A sign comes up that reads, "Low BridgeAhead." Before he knows it, the bridge is right
ahead of him and he gets stuck under the
bridge. Cars are backed up for miles. Finally,
a police car comes up. The cop gets out of his car
and walks to the truck driver, puts his hands on his
hips and says, "Got stuck, huh?" The truck driver says,
"No, I was delivering this bridge and ran out of gas."
#1 SMART ARSE ANSWER OF THE YEAR
A college teacher reminds her class of tomorrow's final exam.
"Now class, I won't tolerate any excuses for you
not being here tomorrow. I might consider a nuclear attack
or a serious personal injury or illness, or a death in your
immediate family, but that's it, no other excuses whatsoever!"
A smart ass guy in the back of the room raised his hand and
asked, "What would you say if tomorrow I said I was
suffering from complete and utter sexual exhaustion?"
The entire class is reduced to laughter and snickering.
When silence is restored, the teacher smiles knowingly at the
student, shakes her head and sweetly says "Well, I guess
you'd have to write the exam with your other hand."
