RadioRoryLeaving New Zealand is a bit like leaving Key West. To move forward, you’ve got to double-back on a lot of ground you’ve seen before. In my case, I’m taking advantage of the calendar (and some friends) to go from New Zealand back to Sydney. (More bridge pictures!!!)
It’s Christmastime, so it’s getting warm and the city is all decked out for the holidays. Personally, I’m more focused on the Pats game against the Jets. Thanks to the time difference, I have to watch it at 4-a.m. on Christmas Day. So here I am with all my Christmastime American football friends (a.k.a. gridiron), inside the sports bar at the Star Casino. I couldn’t even find three wise men.
Don’t worry, the Pats victory was actually the start of a great day filled with old friends and new family! I reunited with a Couchsurfer who stayed at my home in Orlando several times (bad penny?). He invited me to share Christmas dinner with his family too. After months of solo travel it was great to be surrounded by a normal, dysfunctional family.
If not for my friend’s father, I wouldn’t have known about the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race that takes place every Boxing Day. About 100 yachts compete, but hundreds of more boats come out for a spectacular sendoff. If the winds are right, the fastest sailboats can make the 750-mile journey in about a day and a half.
There are plenty of places to watch the race while nursing a holiday hangover. I took the ferry out to Watson’s Bay and joined the crowds gathered along the cliffs to see the boats as they hit open waters.
Back when I was mentally scheduling my trip, I only dreamed that I would be in Sydney for New Year’s Eve. As the fates would have it, I was wrapping up my tour of New Zealand in late December and trying to map my way east. There was no way I was going to miss this party.
For good reason, Sydney on New Year’s Eve is very crowded and very expensive. The swanky rotating restaurant overlooking Sydney Harbour was charging $700 per person for dinner and drinks.
Not an option.
To protect the guilty, let’s just say I have a friend of a friend who can access the ferries that are docked at Circular Quay in the heart of Sydney Harbour. It took a lot of walking and more than a little B.S. to get through the crowds and the security fences. Finally, we reached the ferry that was docked between two Australian icons, Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. About a half-dozen of us had the ferry to ourselves, including its WiFi, refrigerator, and toilet! #Winning
People staked out prime spots for the New Year’s Eve fireworks at Circular Quay show hours and hours before it even got dark. We heard that they even pelted the ferry with empty beer cans when it docked in front of them, spoiling their view. It was suggested that we keep the lights off and our heads down until cooler heads prevailed.
I didn’t know that there’s an “early show” for NYE in Sydney. Fireworks are set off at a more kid-friendly time of 9-p.m. And the early show is a good one! To my eye, the midnight fireworks weren’t that different!
At this point, my bucket list is tattered and torn.
A great way to start a new year.