6: New Year, and the Belts are being Tightened
I can hardly believe that it’s January 2003 already, and that I was on the other side of the world to welcome the New Year in (earlier than most!)
Christmas was spent with our flatmates – Dan cooked a delicious Christmas dinner, turkey with all the trimmings. We then proceeded to get incredibly drunk, which was as fun as it sounds.
Unfortunately my grandmother died a few days before Christmas Day, which prevented my parents from travelling to Sydney this Christmas. So, Nana Reilly, this travelogue entry is dedicated to you. Christmas is a family day, and spending it without them really made me realise how important my family are to me.
Some backpackers I know spent their Christmas slightly differently – not put off by the unseasonably overcast weather, they headed out to Bondi, and enjoyed a Christmas feast of a slab of VB and Burger King!
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New Year’s fireworks |
New Year was absolutely stunning too say the least. Sydney certainly knows how to put on a show. A group of us headed up to Observatory Hill, which is right next to the Harbour Bridge, at three o’clock New Year’s Eve. Armed with a large Esky full of food, beer, and chateau de cardboard, we settled in for the night, surrounded by Australians and travellers alike. This New Year’s Eve was a very windy affair, sod’s law that we chose the highest point in Sydney with no natural barriers to spend it! The alcohol certainly helped to block out the cold, doctor’s orders and all that.
Despite the nine o’clock fireworks being cancelled (yep, those high winds were the culprit!) the midnight fireworks were the largest and most beautiful I have ever seen. I’m so glad that we made the effort. And the city certainly was very organised – the portaloos were spotless!
I’ve just found myself a new job starting on Monday, selling Accidental Death insurance (again!) It was much harder to find a job this time around. Apparently November, December and January are the slowest months job-wise, with recruitment agents scratching their heads over the slowest January yet for several years. But there is stuff out there.
Scrimping and Scraping
Dan and I have decided to really buckle down and start saving, so we are only going out once a week, the only shopping we’re doing is for food (boo) and so on. This should be interesting. So here goes some tips for enjoying Sydney while poor:
- The Shark Bar – 127 Liverpool Street. All drinks $2, 9-11 Thursday and Sunday and 8-10 Saturday. Imagine! $2 Champagne! (well, fizzy wine) My flatmates and I practically live in that place!
Esky
- Invest in an ‘Esky‘, or cooler, an Aussie institution, stock it up with food and drink, and head to the following beauty spots:
Sydney’s beaches: Bondi, Coogee, Bronte, or Clovelley to name but a few, or take them all in on the Bondi beach walk. All of the beaches have public barbeque areas that are operated for a small fee, and at Coogee they are free! What a country!City views: The Domain and The Royal Botanical Gardens, both beautiful and interesting, with a view of the Harbour you don’t want to miss. Watch out for the bat tree! Observatory Hill, Hyde Park, the Rocks and Mrs Macquarie’s Chair also have great views and picnic areas.
- Go down to Darling Harbour – some great festivals and shows are held there, completely free, including the Barcardi Festival and Christmas Carols (I got really excited when Santa arrived – on a jet ski!)
- Or just take advantage of the great alcohol deals to be had from Sydney’s bottle shops (always adjacent to a pub) – buy a slab of beer or a carton of wine and invite the mates around.
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Bondi Beach |
So far the New Year’s weather has not been great, so any planned visits to the beach have been postponed indefinitely, but I’m desperate to get in the sun again! Soon I’ll have to knuckle down and plan our trip around Australia – we basically know what we want to see and do, but we don’t know if we’ll have the funds…like every other traveller I’ve met!
