Moving On To Melbourne

Today I leave for the state of Victoria via an overnight bus service and last night I had my last night in Sydney.
It was always going to be a quiet affair as so many of those from the hostel have moved on, so where better to go than Shady Pines?

Not creepy at all.

Jim, Christelle and (of course) Matteo were in attendance as we drank, threw peanuts, laughed and eventually said goodbye. It is an odd feeling to realise that if I ever see these people again, it will most likely be in  France/Sardinia.

Matteo and I kept the buzz going by heading over to Scruffy Murphy's, a place I had often walked past but never entered. We laughed at the DJ and we laughed with some Irish guys and we laughed when the 'classic match 09/10' on TV was a West Ham game (that we actually won)

When Zola was manager, final score was something like 6-3. COYI!

The Crazy DJ was playing some pretty good tunes

Then it was time for Matteo and I to part ways, I'll no doubt make an effort to keep in touch, of course, I may even go to Sardinia one day, but it's always a shame to leave good mates behind. It is a side to travelling that few people speak about but if it wasn't for the bonds we make along the way, the whole experience would be a shallow one.

Off to the train station I headed, where I was welcomed by this...

Balls

Turns out the bus wasn't exactly regular, as I waited almost 2 hours before I decided to just use the last of my change ($4) to buy a kebab and wait on the platform for the first train of the morning. So for the second time in the last few days I would see the sunrise over Sydney's suburbs as I rested my tired head upon the window, giving me time to remember all the things I've done, people I've met and friends I've made these past months in Australia's largest city.

(click for 'full size')
Great times.

So I'll say 'farewell Sydney and farewell all I've left there!' And now on to Melbourne for the next instalment of my Awesome Australian Adventure! Play me off Cold Chisel...

I know it's a Vietnam song, but he mentions Sydney a few times and it's about leaving so, you know, it kind of fits. Plus it's got that 'road trip' kind of feel to it.

Why Would I Want To Forget All My Acquaintances?

21 hours into 2012 and I'm still a bit tired after a unique and special New Year's Eve. But first some background info...

I had bought myself a bottle of Cougar whiskey for NYE, but upon exploring the prime spot for seeing the fireworks on NYE it was clear that I may have been wiser to save my money as bringing your own alcohol was not allowed. However, not to be thwarted by such a development, I devised a cunning little scheme. I spent a dollar on some of those ice pack things for cool bags and replaced the weird gel contained within the vessels with whiskey. I would then place them in a cool bag with my food/cola et voilà, whiskey and cokes on me!

Hell yeah!

So with my contraband safely disguised amongst sealed containers (Pepsi), sandwiches, crisps and Oreos, I took the train to the CBD and walked to the Domain at 10:30AM to be greeted by this...

So many people!

I called Wiebke and Friddi, but she was already well into the queue, so I joined onto the end. Matteo joined me in the queue and then Christelle found us a short while later (with some Oporto) and as we made our way around the theme park style queue we caught up with our recent events (as I hadn't seen Matteo for over a month), ate chicken and drank a lot of Solo and orange juice as we weren't allowed opened bottles.

Good thing I didn't try to bring in party poppers as well! I'd be in serious trouble otherwise!

Almost there...

It would appear my ruse of ice packs filled with whiskey wasn't really necessary as security was... well... lapse. The guy looked in my bag, not really looking, more like a glance and then my rucksack which was filled by my camping rug. I could have easily just brought the whole bottle of Cougar in my camping rug and saved the trouble of such a great smuggling idea. Christelle too had a good idea, by filling a few of those squeezy yogurt things with vodka, and she didn't even have to open her bag, the guy just asked if she had any plastic bottles (she said yes) then the guy just asked if they were sealed. Good job guys!

It would become apparent that not only did we easily avoid loss of alcohol, but the spot Zoe and Michael had secured was, quite frankly, bloody brilliant. It would transpire that whilst looking for Wiebke and Friddi in the queue, Zoe and Michael actually just walked straight through the gate without queuing or being stopped, lucky sods! Wiebke and Friddi were already there and after 3 hours of queuing we joined them...

And sat down here! Right behind the media section.

Like I said, bloody brilliant. So now was the difficult task of sitting down and passing the time until the fireworks kicked in.

Yummy Whiskey

Yummy Vodka

It was also Weibke's last day in Sydney

The sun was relentless, as my red face would suggest, so Michael had his own cunning scheme of making a makeshift shelter with some rope, a sheet and umbrellas.

Success!

After a couple of games of Uno, a couple of beers, some food, whiskey, time seemed to be flying by (much like the numerous helicopters and light aircraft) and conditions remained perfect.

Hell yeah! Stunt plane!

The media crews were around, but I didn't recognise any of the reporters.

The sun started to set behind the CBD as we were treated to some sky writing by a religious nut job...

Am I going to... um... where is Hravon? And where is your question mark?! There's a special place in Hell for sky writers with poor grammar!

Apparently it is an annual thing that some church pays for, fair enough, but I'd rather he write something cool like a movie quote or 'help, my plane is on fire'. He did carry on writing stuff about Jesus, but Matteo and I wanted a beer/toilet break before the 9PM family fireworks.

I guess he meant 'Stone Cold 3:16' but didn't have time to write it.

Alas, the queues for the bars were far more ridiculous than earlier so I would have to save my money and stick to my contraband. On the subject of 'cost', there were some very crafty costs weasled into the 'free' event. For example, the queue for the water fountain/tap was longer than the one for the bar, however if you bought a souvenir metal water bottle (for $15) you could use a 'special' tap for free, if you didn't have the souvenir metal water bottle you could use the special tap also, but for $2. A can of Carlton was $7 and I didn't bother looking at food prices after seeing an ice cream was $4.

9 o'clock came around and we were treated to a taste of what was to come as the 'family fireworks' began.

Naturally, people tried to get a good view and some feathers were ruffled as people who had not secured their spot earlier tried to push forward. But the fireworks were great and it was just a prelude to the main event!

The Moon and stars kept the sky occupied as we waited for 2011 to pass into 2012, the media were in attendance and every hour a small peppering of fireworks took flight and left small clouds to drift over the harbour. The theme of the display was 'time to dream' so I can only assume the clouds were there to represent the thoughts and dreams of mankind, or something.

The water ways were awash with the neon lights of the decorated party boats as they paraded along the harbour, carrying those who could afford the ticket price.

And then the hour dawned upon us, the countdown started on the bridge from the number 88, the crowd showed their anticipation through cheers and whistles as the clock ticked down, all the way down to ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two....

...one...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

20 minutes of bangs, flames and spectacle

The stars outshone by a huge display across the harbour

We stood in awe of it all

Until the finale took our breath away and blinded the horizon. Good show.

And that was that. 2012 was greeted by a blazing collection of sparks and flame and now was the time to walk to Wiebke's flat, but not before a quick phone call home.

But please spare a thought for the cleaners.

We did manage to get a free bus for the majority of the trip home as the train station was full of people and just getting a ticket would have involved more queues. From the bus we could comfortably view the populous revelling in the streets, which were really quite quiet, just the odd shout as the rest walked sedately to whichever path would lead to where they wanted to go.

For the sake of two stops on the train? Not worth it.

Christelle and Matteo had already left our merry band and so it was I and Ze Germans enjoying conversation and some wines previously purchased at the Hunter Valley. A great way to end the evening/start the morning.

But as the sun warmed the air for the first time this year it was time for us to head to our beds, or in the case of Weibke, head to New Zealand before going back to Germany in a few weeks.

Bleary eyed we walked to Central Station from Broadway

And hopped on the train to Hurstville.

The buses weren't running for another 3 hours or so, so I would have to get a taxi back to Sylvania. Fortunatly me and another guy were waiting for a cab, which pulled up, the driver asked us both where we were going and luckily we were both headed in the same direction, so I only had to pay for the ride from where the other guy got out to Sylvania. Then it was time to crash out (after wishing a happy new year via Facebook)

What a great 24 hours that was. Have a great 2012 everybody! (And see you in Hanover, Weibke!)

Play us off Jimi!

Taronga Zoo

Like the big kid I am I love nothing more than gawping at magnificent beasts for an entire day, and yesterday I had the chance to gawp at all sorts of things at Taronga Zoo!
I won't go on too much about it, as I'm sure most of you just want to see pictures of cute and cuddly animals, but my day started with a trip to Circular Quay to meet Christelle before buying our tickets to the zoo. The zoo is really only accessable by ferry and you can buy an inclusive ticket at the ferry terminal for $50.50, which gives you a return ferry ticket, access to the sky safari and entrance to the zoo, which isn't that bad when entrance to the zoo alone would be $44.

Thanks for the topical ad, bus!

A view from the 'sky safari'

So we stepped off the Sky Safari and agreed that a map would be the best thing to find. Upon acquiring a map, Christelle and I noticed a sign that simply stated "Tiger cubs - 10 am to 1 pm" (Christelle asked what a 'cub' is and I replied 'baby tigers, and aww they're so cute a boojieboojiebooboo', we asked the map guy about it and he told us how to get to the big cat area.

We strolled to the area and got there at ten to one only to see the biggest queue ever, so we went back up to the beginning and felt kind of bad that we wouldn't see the tiger cubs. But it didn't really matter because of all the other cute and cuddly animals we were surrounded by,

Aaawwwww...

Aaahhh...

Awwww...

Um... Oh?

Blimey

Not sure you'd want to cuddle this, he's a 'Fierce Snake', the most venomous snake  in the country!

"Hi guyz! I gots money!"

So many animals and things. We did want to see the seal show but were at the wrong end of the zoo, so doing well so far, but the bird show was at 3pm and they're always good. We headed towards the bird show area, determined not to be distracted by anything cute and cuddly for too long...

Like this 3 headed giraffe

Auditioning for The Wizard of Oz

OK, so maybe we did get a little distracted. But we made the bird show with plenty of time to spare and the seats seemed to fill up very early. Then it was time for a few swoops and quick fire photo ops as various birds of different shapes and sizes entertained us for the next 20 minutes.

The show began with the Aboriginal tale of how the birds got their colours before a lucky guy with a great job came out and introduced us to some aerial acrobatics that were performed without the aid of a safety net...

He does this for a living?

We learned about the various skills different birds possess, like the brilliant refexes of the screaming kite, the amazing speed of whichever falcon this was,

as well as how this buzzard uses rocks to break the shells of emu eggs.

Rod Hull must be spinning in his grave

A really good show. Afterwards we wandered up to where the big cat area was and decided to take a look as the queue was much shorter now the cubs were away. But cubs are no match for the awesome majesty of that king of beasts,

Barry Gibb

The next pen featured some Sumatran Tigers, and as luck would have it the group before us were being ushered out just as the stars of the show began to run out. Yes we got to see the cubs, which are kind of important as there are only 400 of these tigers left in the wild, but more importantly, we got to see tiger cubs!

A nice little surprise as we thought we had missed the chance to see them. But our buzz was short lived as we saw the loneliest Kodiak Bear in the world (probably)

Give that bear a hug! I know he's 8 feet tall but just look at him!

I got a couple of ice creams and, because of the sudden onset of depression, Christelle took one of them as we watched the elephants mill about.

Awwwww...

Red Lory... I couldn't find a yellow one to go with it.

Soon after we walked around the 'rainforest trail' and just after that we heard over the loudspeakers that the zoo would close at 5pm, the time then was 4.30... Blast!

Fortunately, Christelle and myself are far too rebellious to adhere 'the man's' rules on closing hours! So we took our time and saw a few of Australia's native wildlife, which was nice as the cacophony of children descended towards the ferry with their parents, giving us time to see the animals in a more relaxed state.

I guess the kids went home, they may have been eaten.

What was that about Rod Hull?

It wasn't a rock, it was a rock wallaby!

At about 5.30 we had a quick look around the nearby beach, as we thought about places to see in the new year. The view wasn't too great but the beach itself was covered in litter, which was a real shame. Still, it was nice to see lots of people trying to cram onto a ferry as we stood on the beach.

After returning to Circular Quay (after messing with some apps on my iPod)
 we had pizza and a beer at the Ship Inn and then walked towards another possible viewing spot for New Year, the same spot I took photos of the harbour at sunset all those months ago.

But my original plan of bringing my own booze was waylaid as the almost Orwellian signs plastered around the area made clear that this was to be host to a law abiding event with no enjoyment of free thoughts allowed!

Oh well, it's better than nothing. So I have a venue for New Year's, so stay tuned for that! I also booked my hostel and transport to Melbourne today so that's another thing done.