Sydney - New Years Eve

When we arrived in Sydney we took the train straight to Circular Quay were we were treated to the iconic sights of Sydney. We boarded the ferry to Manly which takes the most beautiful route around the river past the Harbour Bridge and close by the Opera House. We took a walk along the gorgeous sandy Manly beach as the sun was setting and it seemed like a true paradise.

View of The Harbour Bridge from the Manly ferry

View of The Opera House from the Manly ferry

New Years Eve we wasted no time and headed back to the beach for another walk and saw the 100s of suffers. Most of which were taking part in lessons but there were so many people getting involved they filled the whole beach. We headed into central Sydney early as recommended to ensure we got a good spot to see the fireworks. We went to the area we wanted to spend the evening but this was already full and it had been since 11 in the morning. Due to its popularity we found out people would camp over night to ensure they got in. So we headed for our next chose which was by the East Quay, opposite the Harbour Bridge and just before the Opera House. We only just made it as they closed the area and stopped letting people in by 4:30 as this area also became full. They have the policy of once your there your in so we had a lot of waiting around. Thankfully, just by chance we happened to have a cinema in our area, so we burnt a few hours by watching a film. Also to my delight they were serving alcohol in the cinema and as alcohol was band outside we emptied a bottle of wine into a coke cup and sneaked it out. It kept us going for a little while but it’s fair to say it was our most sober New Years Eve for many years. When 9 o’clock came round the “family fireworks” started up and they were very good, full of surprises as the whole sky lit up, including the skyscrapers, it was hard to know where to look first. The midnight fireworks were even more impressive and it was a strange feeling knowing that we were one of the first people to see in 2012 and everyone back home hadn’t even started getting ready for their nights out.

Fireworks on the buildings

Fireworks on the Harbour Bridge

Fireworks that fill the sky

During the rest of our time in Sydney we went on self tours. We took one of the city ferries to Darling Harbour which we loved. The restaurants, pubs and rather glamorous boats that lined the harbour made it a more luxurious version of Brighton Marina. We walked up to Hyde Park which was another little reminder of home. Wondering round the city streets was a lovely was to see the city and a great way to spend our first day of 2012. We couldn’t have a trip to Sydney in the summer without a trip to Bondi beach. It had the blue sky, blue sea and golden sands so it was nice that’s if you don’t mind sharing with 1000s of other sun-lovers and suffers. We had never been to a beach that was so packed out and to be honest it was not as impressive as the beautiful Manly beach. We ended our trip with by going up one of the pillars on the Harbour Bridge which gave us a spectacular view of Sydney and gave us a taster of things to come when we return.

BUSY Bondi Beach

View of city from The Harbour Bridge

Enjoying the views

 Our trip would not have been possible without our Christmas present from Lorraine and David and without Duncan and Jen kindly letting us stay. So thank you very much.

Lastly if we haven’t had the chance to text, email or talk to you already then we would like to wish you a very happy and prosperous 2012.