Sydney: Part 2 (The Festive Season)

Arriving back in Sydney felt like coming home and our Sydney-dwelling friends certainly made us feel welcome. Gavin (Steve's ex-Fuji colleague) collected us from the coach, took us shopping AND paid for it (thanks Gav). That shop kept us in baked beans, washing powder and rice amongst other groceries for over 2 weeks and Gav brought a whole new meaning to 'friends in need are friends indeed'! We checked in at 'Chez Katie & Steve's' (Lucy's best friends) in Coogee, a suburb of Sydney. Lucy's best friends soon became ours when we saw their lovely new flat that we were to look after for two weeks while they were in England for Christmas. With some sparkling wine they left us for Christmas, we toasted our good fortune at having such wonderful friends and a fantastically swanky flat to base ourselves over the festive season.

Those two weeks gave us a taste of what life would be like to live in Sydney and three blocks from Coogee Beach, it was certainly the high-life. We met Katie and Steve's friends; Jenny, Amy, Pete, Anna, Alex, Mark and Gayle, amongst others, all English and extremely good fun 20-somethings enjoying a London lifestyle in the Sydney sun. We got caught up in the hub of socialising, having fun and partying so hard, our hangovers didn't have a chance to set in until boxing day. Christmas Eve was a great night and we danced the night away (Beth was not going to let a fractured foot spoil her fun) at the Golden Sheaf in the beautiful Double Bay area of Sydney, almost opposite the hotel where INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence was found dead (which was nice).

Christmas Day greeted us with mixed feelings (largely of the hangover variety), as we succumbed to deep homesickness of the like we had never experienced in seven months of being away. For Beth, it was like Christmas's of her childhood with Lucy bounding into the main room at 7am like an over enthusiastic puppy, desperate for her presents! The weather, although disappointingly overcast, was warm and taking the Christmas tree cake Lucy had slaved over (Beth and Steve secretly believed it resembled a pile of nuclear waste), we walked to Mark's flat for a Christmas party to end all parties. 12 hours, new friends, colourful rosella birds landing frequently on the balcony and a massive BBQ (prepared by Jenny, Marion and Simon - thanks!), Christmas Day may not have been the same as sharing the day in good old England with a frost, friends and family, but it was still good fun.

Boxing Day saw 15 of us gather at Jenny's gorgeous Edgecliff apartment overlooking Sydney Harbour to eat the left over salads and watch the start of the famous Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Unfortunately, the view of the starting line wasn't great, but the crowds and helicopters buzzing around the sky made the moment very atmospheric.

The run up to New Years Eve saw shopping trips to Bondi Junction to search the sales for New Years Eve outfits, sunbathing trips to the Royal National Park, surfing in Manley and relaxing in Marouba. We also walked the famous Coogee to Bondi walk taking us from, past and to wonderful beaches and we rewarded ourselves after the 6km trek with lunch at the Sushi Train in Bondi Beach. All these activities however were tempered with horror at the carnage left in the wake of the Asian Tsunami that was reported extensively by their Australian neighbours.

New Years Eve arrived with horrifying speed for Beth who almost had a nervous breakdown the night before at the thought of leaving her 20's behind. Her 30th however was an amazing day starting with Steve, Katie and Lucy presenting her with a birthday cake made from 20 (her spiritual age!) cup-cakes with ever-lighting candles that refused to go out despite Beth emptying a lungful of spit on top of the lovely pink icing in her attempts to extinguish them. Katie also made a lovely breakfast of corn fritters, roasted tomatoes and mushrooms whilst Lucy unveiled balloons complete with faces and shoes. Beth was spoilt with some lovely presents from Steve (who had to be creative as we have run out of money; manicure set, pedometer and headlight), Lucy (silver necklace, shoes, marmite and tops), Gavin & Bryony (sachets full of pampering tonics), Katie, Steve and Amy (badly needed underwear set!) plus money from Beth's Grandma & Grandad, Mum and Dad and Sue. Turning 30 was actually fabulous! Beth, Lucy and Steve headed into the historic Rocks area of Sydney known as the foundation of Australia, now a trendy area of restaurants and bars. We headed to the Australian Bar and enjoyed sparkling wine in the lunchtime sun. Slightly tipsy we headed back to Coogee where Steve and Beth glammed up for the first time in seven months. Battling into central Sydney was a little like London at the millennium, a bunfight, but the crowds only added to the fever pitch of New Years Eve in one of the most exciting cities in the world. The Botanical Gardens and indeed anywhere within seven kilometres of Sydney were packed and the Opera House must have had at least 1000 people on the steps alone. We felt terribly important and somehow fraudulent as the crowds parted for those with tickets to the Opera Bar and walking into the bar beneath the Opera House was like a dream as the open-air venue opened it's doors for a ringside view of Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The fireworks at 9pm were a wonderful sight as purples and reds, golds and greens exploded in a kaleidoscope of colours from the bridge and behind the opera house. Dancing through the night under the stars and the glow of the brightly lit cruise ships circling the harbour, made the night very special but the night was tinged with sadness and it was an enjoyment laced with sorrow for the people of Asia who were having a very different New Years Eve. The sound of a minute silence at midnight was a more amazing sound and more moving that a million fireworks as people, celebrating moments before, joined to pray that hope and happiness would find it's way to the people affected by the Tsunami. The end of the minute silence heralded the start of the fantastic midnight fireworks which concluded with a fountain of fireworks pouring from the bridge and through the 2005 windmill sculpture, glinting spectacularly in the moonlight. Beth finished the night in style and in a way fitting of a 30 year old - she threw up over herself - but nothing, not even undissolved canapes floating in a puddle at her feet, could dampen the fantastic New Years Eve of 2004.

New Years day was spent in a hungover state whilst watching in disbelief at the rising death toll of the Asian Tsunami. The irony of the last sentence is not lost on us and at that moment we decided that during our trip to Thailand in the coming weeks we would do everything we could to help in the aftermath of the disaster.

Our final days in Sydney were spent in hospitality as warm as the weather with Gavin and Bryony at their flat in Manley, North Sydney. We explored thoroughly by walking the famous Manley to Spit coastal walk that afforded us fabulous views across Sydney. 10km later (measured with Beth's new pedometer of course) we drove to Palm Beach where Home & Away is filmed and had a picnic outside the surf club. The compulsory 'Summer Bay' sign was photographed and, despite the cold, we dipped our toes in the sea that laps the shores of the famous Aussie beach.

We had an emotional farewell with Lucy - the best sister/sister-in-law we could ask for and a brilliant, fun, if not slightly nutty traveling companion! At the Greyhound bus station we waved goodbye to the most amazing and beautiful skyline in the world and headed south to Melbourne, Victoria for the last stage of our Australian adventure.