Hi all,

Alice arrived on the 29th and we decided to head for China town and visit Paddies Markets. It was ruddlish.... I've never seen as much over priced tat in all my life.

We all left pretty sharpish and Macca and Tom decided they were going to watch Bond. Becki and Alice went for a drink and I headed to the flat as I wasn't feeling very well. That night the girls got dolled up and went out for the night and the lad stayed in and watched a DVD. The next day I was feeling proper ruff and went to the chemist to obtain some medicine. I was quickly redirected to the medical centre were after an hour and a half wait, I was diagnosed with acute bronchitis - smashing. The course of drugs that I was prescribed just sent me to sleep every time I took them - quality with New Year Eve coming...........

So then, it was New Year's Eve! All good intentions of getting up early and heading down to the Botanical Gardens sort of went out the window. We got up early enough, at about 9am and then waited for Matt (from Fraser Island - that we'd offered a roof to for the night) to turn up. None of us really had a clue where we were going, if we could take alcohol (this didn't concern me), what we were doing for food etc and as the hours ticked by, it was suddenly lunch time. The guys drank the two bottles of champagne that Matt had brought over and then headed to a cafe for lunch. We'd decided that no matter how busy it was going to get - we'd get in!!....

Wrong! We got down to the Botanical Gardens, where the queue for Mrs. Macquaries Chair was snaking right across the park infront of it, back up the road and around the back of the church. Even though it was only 2pm, there was no way in the world we were going to queue for 3hrs, only to be told that the 25,000 limit had already been reached. We weren't going to get that signature view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge with all the fireworks exploding over the harbour...but it was our own fault - I was in a daze anyhow from my medicine.

However, we weren't giving up. We walked down past Martin's Place and headed down towards Circular Quay - only to see hoards more people covering the streets. Nearly giving up, we suddenly saw something. Right there on the right hand side, was a patch of grass. It was on a hill facing the harbour, we could see the bridge through two buildings and see two arches of the Opera House...and, it was a quiet piece of grass with only a couple of people sat on it. Perfect! We got our sarrongs out to sit on and set up shop. Granted, it was only 2.30pm and we had another 9.5hrs left to wait...but we'd found a spot to sit, so we didn't care.

Macca had managed to get into the Botanical Gardens, so it was just Matt, Tom, Miff and I. With no alcohol, no food and little entertainment, we soon got bored (well they did, I fell asleep!). At 5pm, Alice, Louise and Heejin (another girl from Ayr - Korean) turned up. They came with vodka and cranberry juice. This gave Tom (who by this point was getting fed up!) the urge to drink, so Tom and I decided to go back to King's Cross on the tube, to collect some alcohol and get changed into warmer clothes.

Two bottles of wine to keep Becki happy...I was on the G&T's (even though I was on antibiotics for the bronchitus!!) and Tom decided to blend both goon and bundy and cokes. A recipe for disaster.....

By 9pm, we were all merry and found it absolutely hilarious when we met 4 guys from the Barmy Army outside the 'port-a-loos'. In a drunken state, Alice arranged to have a game of cricket on Coogee beach with them on New Year's Day! (Which Im not sure whether has taken place or not). A couple of the group came back to drink with us - I can only remember 'Tank' - you'll see why in the photos. - and then before we knew it, we also had a group of Irish people around us that Louise had met and dragged over (she's also Irish!). We all had a great time messing around and laughing at pictures we'd taken etc and in no time at all, it was 11pm. Only 1hr to go...

By this time, Tom was steaming. 4 litres of Goon hadn't done him any favours when washed down with bundy. He started trying to chat up Alice and Louise but before getting anywhere, managed to stack it on the lawn...spilling his drink all over everyone! Oh dear! The last thing we saw, was Tom looking very drunk and staggering off somewhere...it was 11.55pm!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! The sky exploded with sound and light. The bridge looked like it was on fire and the crouds 'oohed and ahhed' following each set of fireworks. It was totally out of this world! I've never seen anything like it. The skyscrapers right next to us had fireworks explode off thier roofs, followed by more in the harbour, followed by the huge ones off the bridge and then after rotating several times, they all started exploding simultaneously. Totally, totally awesome - I don't think any other show will ever live up to that now!

At midnight, we all hugged and wished each other a Happy New Year...it had been strange not having the countdown though. A very different New Year to that in the UK. I'd alread text lots of people at home but it was bizarre as their New Year wouldn't be for another 11 hours.

After looking around, we realised Tom was nowhere to be seen and so we assumed he'd gone home already. Becki and I headed back - (Matt decided to stay at his mates house instead) - amongst the hundreds of thousands of people trying to escape the gardens. At one stage, we were going against the direction of all the other people and weren't entirely sure that we'd gone the right way....In the end, we made it back to King's Cross and again enjoyed a kebab before heading home. Tom however, wasn't at home when we arrived....Oh well, he had keys to get in, so we went to sleep.

At 3.30am, the door buzzer goes..... Sure enough, it was Tom. He muttered a few things and we soon realised that he'd actually passed out on some grass somewhere at 11.55pm and had totally missed New Year! I was still half asleep, so it wasn't until we all awoke in the morning that we found out the whole story.

Crash...bang....Tom was storming around the flat. It only turns out that not only did he collapse and miss New Year, but in the process, he also managed to lose his camera! A total write-off of a new year for him. Oh dear. He went down the police station this morning and managed to get a report, so that was ok. The funniest part of the story wasn't that though. Not only had all that happened, but when he looked down, there were mysterious rips in his jeans - and not just small rips - the one on the right leg was a straight cut right the way down the front of his thigh. He also has cuts in his skin from them! Totally bizarre! All we can think, is that in his drunken state, he tried to climb the spiked fence and slipped...he has no recollection of this.

So, in amongst all of the tomfoolery, New Year had arrived and most of us had had a quality night. The once in a lifetime Sydney New Year Experience all that it's cracked up to be?....Yes, it bloody was!

I hope it's a good one for everyone else.....

Speak soon and HAPPY NEW YEAR x x x

Bye for now

Miffy