NZ/AUS EPIC HOLIDAY - Days 74-76

Australia here I come!

Day 74 - 12th Apr - Christchurch to Sydney

It was time to bid farewell to New Zealand and fly to the slightly larger country of Australia. The weather was superb and the flight over the southern alps yielded some of the most incredible views I had seen from a plane. In the distance Mount Cook towered over the high cloud unlike many of the other peaks. It certainly lived up to its Maori name: Aoraki, meaning cloud piercer.

After a very short flight I was in Sydney and the time difference had almost given me all the hours of the day back that I'd spent traveling. Going through immigration took very little time and after a brief train ride I was in the centre of one of the finest cities in the entire world. By now the place was extremely familiar to me. I've been here so many times in the past that its becoming more familiar to me than my home town.

Speaking of home towns there isn't one I would rather adopt more than Sydney. I cannot over exaggerate the virtues of this utterly wonderful place. Harbours don't really come much better than Sydney, except possibly Rio but then in Sydney you're not in constant danger of being mugged, raped or murdered as soon as you take a wrong turn. At any rate, a walk along the harbour front at Circular Quay is always one of my favourite city strolls in the world, day or night.

So I walked down to meet my good friend Rob who, along with his girlfriend Colleen, had kindly agreed to put me up in their wonderful home, at a bar in town. After this we essentially went on a bit of a pub crawl, an activity that can really drain your wallet due to the egregiously high government taxes on alcohol. After returning to Rob's place I discovered his ingenious plan for combating this problem, he brewed his own beer. It was actually really quite nice, though by then it was slightly harder to tell.

Aah it really was great to be back in Sydney once again.

majestic Mount Cook

Day 75 - 13th Apr - Sydney Royal Easter Fair

I didn't really have any plans for the day but Rob and Colleen certainly did. Due to my staggeringly backwards ability to keep up with the real world I had completely forgotten that it was Easter Sunday. Apparently the big event in Sydney was the Royal Easter Fair and so that would be our destination for the day.

It was a truly massive affair, located around the appropriately enormous Olympic stadium that had been constructed for the recently hosted games in 2000. It would have taken days to experience everything at the fair, indeed it had already been open for weeks. But on an holiday like today the place was truly bustling with excitement.

The highlight for me had to be the presence of several fairground rides, including some of the most violent I'd ever ridden in my whole life. One ride was essentially a giant, vertical, one hundred or more foot, double bladed propeller with chairs at each end. To really exacerbate the chances of vomiting the seats at each end rotated independently from the main shaft. If anybody with a nervous disposition or vertigo rode that one it would probably unhinge the balance of their very mind and reduce them to a quivering, mindless sack of jelly. In other words it was bloody good fun!

Another highlight was the unexpected stunt bike show in one of the massive stadiums. Turning cartwheels in mid-air and standing on their handlebars whilst soaring off ramps, I was mightily impressed to learn that one of these nutters was only nineteen years old! Christ I'll bet that particular teenager has no trouble finding dates! What always impresses me is the notion that there is no margin of error for practising these stunts. If you miscalculate a 360 degree backflip in mid air whilst letting go of your bike to spin around separately then you fall down to bone crunching agony.

The other attractions that delighted were the various animal shows around the place. There were competitions involving various animals but, instead of watching the shows or the judging I had a much more fun time interacting with the animals in their pens. The pigs proved to be quite entertaining, as were the amazingly soft furred alpacas. But for me you just can't improve on dogs and I spent ages at the dog pens squealing with delight like a child each time I came across each dog which somehow proved to be even more adorable that the last.

The last diversion of the day was a show featuring what were advertised as the 'diving and racing pigs'. Yes you read that right! We spend forever waiting in line several times throughout the day only to be told that it was full. We weren't the only ones and tempers around us were starting to flare, not helped by the impending rain. But eventually we got in only to be faced with the anticlimactic display which lasted for all of ten minutes. That's including the introductions and preparations of course, all in all the actual pig racing (and diving!) itself probably didn't go over the length of a sneezing fit.

Yes most people left the area feeling satisfied and entertained, myself included in a bizarre kind of way. It's amazing how entertaining pigs can be!

I would have stayed all night but the increasingly heavy rain drove us off. Before long we were back at Rob and Colleen place drying our clothes and enjoying a hot drink.

bloody impressive!

ride of death!

Day 76 - 14th Apr - Birthday in Sydney

I don't want to be twenty eight years old! I don't bloody well want to age! It two years I'll be thirty! Holy shit! Jesus I'll be an old man soon! Maybe I'm overreacting a little. Settle down, at least I'm spending my birthday in an awesome place.

We headed out into town in the late afternoon and headed out for a few drinks in town near an area called The Rocks which was located almost in the shadow of the massive harbour bridge. I was also able to track down a friend from my life on cruise ships, the lovely Davidia, a singer who frequented the Sun Princess and, much to my delight at the time, she was one of the few acts around at the time with a genuinely good show. It was good to be amongst friends on my birthday and we visited a wonderful Italian restaurant for a delicious meal. I was eternally grateful when Rob and Colleen offered to foot the bill!

A fine birthday I reckon, I'd spend them all in Sydney if I could!

Colleen, Davidia, Me, Rob