Christmas and New Year in Sydney…

The main reason we booked this whole Australia trip was to make sure we had a famous ozzy Christmas ‘down under’ where we got to spend it on the beach and to also ensure we saw in the New Year at the Harbour Bridge with the world famous fireworks and that’s exactly what we did…

Christmas came and went in a flash but was definitely a different experience…

All 6 of us arranged a secret Santa for one another, all to be revealed on Christmas morning around the Goon Christmas tree… Well that didn’t work out well. Somehow Joss ended up without a present and George got two lots! How someone can forget a single name they pulled out the hat, I will never know…

Myself, Joss and George opened up a box of goodies which were very kindly shipped over by our mothers and provided us with a few laughs in the form of Christmas underwear but also gave us lots of Christmas cards from all of the family which was nice to see and open!

Soon we went off in high spirits to the beach, the sun had come out to treat us for the first time that week so we really did get lucky. A day earlier I walked past a Santa suit for only $12 and I really just could not resist so I put that on when I woke up (and woke everyone else up with a ho Ho ho) and went straight down to Coogee beach. The suit went down well, I got photos with strangers but all in good nature.

It was soon off as I had my first Christmas swim in the sea. An experience that I won’t forget and one to tell the grandkids! The waves were HUGE, we all took a bit of a bashing but nothing we didn’t find amusing. It was all part of the fun!

After a goon or two at the beach we all headed back to the apartment where master chef Alex Poulter russelled up arguably one of the best Christmas dinners I’ve ever had (sorry mum and nan), he absolutely nailed it. We spared no expenses when going for a nice Turkey and a joint of gammon from the butchers to ensure we treated ourselves and we didn’t miss out on the Christmas tradition!

Next up came New Years Eve.. We left it late to decide what we wanted to do but we knew that we had to see the fireworks. We would only be here once, we could not miss out on this and we visited a theme park called ‘Luna Park’ which is situated right on the harbour with great views. On the night we saw that our general admission tickets gave us a satisfactory view of the bridge, half a Ferris wheel covered it but I wanted to get more. Cheekily George noticed that I gate to the VIP section was unlocked and I just couldn’t resist.. Quickly we snook through and what a risk / chance we took to pay off.. We literally could not have got any closer to the edge of the harbour, my legs dangled off the edge and we were right there it was truly unbelievable. A night I shall never ever forget with those views and memories.

Edit
New Year’s Day we all woke up with hangovers but no rest for the wicked as we headed off to a music festival in the centre of Sydney with some high profile acts on the bill. We entered the festival in the worst shirts possible but that was all part of the fun, who doesn’t enjoy embarrassing themselves??? See below…

Last night we had our ‘last supper’ .. Myself, George and Joss appear to heading in different directions but we’ve had an incredible 3 months together so far. We’ve made unforgettable memories to say the least! Alex has flown home back to England and we wish him well in his travels and career in the RAF. We all celebrated with a trip to an ‘escape room’ test which we weren’t the best at to say the least and also a big meal at Hard Rock Cafe in Darling Harbour.. Not the best experience but our complaint got us a free meal and $100 off the bill so it turned out to be a cheap deal for all of us!

I’m currently sat on a train off to the Capital of Australia which is Canberra. Thought I should see the capital whilst I’m here and I have time available before meeting Matty and George to drive along the Great Ocean Road from Adelaide to Melbourne which should be a blast!
Future plans are still undecided.. Watch this space.