New Year in Sydney
We were sorry to leave Melbourne after having enjoyed the Christmas period so much, but on the 29th December we flew to Sydney for New Year.
We made the short journey from the airport to Coogee to our supposed luxury apartment that we had pre-booked prior to beginning our trip as a treat midway through our travels. We were severely disappointed to find that the apartment was no more than a hotel room with a microwave. This represented our biggest rip-off of the trip so far and the matter is far from closed.
The first afternoon we headed to the attractive Coogee beach and enjoyed the warm sunshine.
Day two saw us head into the centre of Sydney, it was our first view of the iconic bridge and opera house and we were not disappointed. We then did a walking tour which included the Contemporary Art Museum and then we relaxed and took lunch in the Botanical Gardens.
Living in the Botanical Gardens are flying foxes which provide a magnificent sight hanging from trees and occasionally flying around. They were also later to provide a memorable sight at the beginning of the New Year Eve's celebrations.
The day of New Year's Eve passed quickly without achieving too much as we travelled for over an hour on a couple of buses to find that the ferry jetty which we wanted to use was closed. We were able though to check out the spot where we planned to return to later to watch the fireworks, by late morning the crowds were already beginning to arrive.
We headed back to our room and collected our New Year Eve's essentials (food and a box of wine) and returned to the viewing spot. We arrived about 6pm and the celebrations were already well underway. At our viewing point there was room for 10,000 people and it seemed pretty full although not uncomfortable.
The festivities started with a fly past of old planes and gradually built to the family fireworks at 9pm. During this build-up the most impressive site was the flying foxes deciding to vacate the Botanical Gardens and head to quieter areas away from the celebrations.
When mid-night came around we were treated to a magnificent display which lived up to all expectations. Fireworks flew from barges in the harbour, off the skyscrapers and most impressively from the bridge.
After a lengthy lie-in on New Years Day we walked along the coast from Coogee to Bondi. The walk cleared the head and gave spectacular views up and down the coast.
Overall, Sydney has been a bit of a disappointment apart from the fireworks, though it wasn't really the city's fault. We'll come back at some point to give it another go at a different time of year.
Next stop Cairns...