Sydney and a spectacular NYE

We were very excited to be spending New Years Eve and my birthday in Sydney and had been eagerly waiting to see the glamorous city.

Having driven 1200km from the farm to Sydney, a 'road-trip' that we had idealised but turned out to be just long and draining as our journey was made more difficult by pouring rain for the first 1000km,  we were pretty exhausted when we arrived. We were staying in the QT hotel which is centrally located, luxurious and wonderfully quirky. That evening we took a picnic and went to Sydney's moonlight cinema.

The next day was MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! After opening my presents, we went to spend the morning at Bondi Beach. We started with a large breakfast at a beachfront cafe, before spending an hour sunbathing alongside thousands of others.

In the afternoon we met Steve and Della, Megan and Finley (Alex's friends from home) from home at the Opera bar, where we got our first glimpse of the infamous Opera House. The bar was very busy but boasted a great view and we stayed there until dinner. The most appropriate place to eat that night turned out to be the 360 revolving tower restaurant, with views over all of Sydney city. Alex ordered kangaroo loin tartare, and sent it back when he realised what it was. After that we both ate pate for starter and pork belly for main.  The restaurant finished off by bringing out a small birthday cake.

Our third day in Sydney was spent on a trip to the Blue Mountains, so named because of the blue mist created from oils in the trees. The mountains were beautiful and we spent a few hours walking through forests to get to different view points, walking past waterfalls and small caves on our way. A ride on the world's steepest railway was also included.

'The Three Sisters'

That night we had to decide on a plan for New Year's Eve. Sydney effectively shuts down with so many people flocking to the harbour, camping out to get the best spot. Originally, a boat trip seemed to be the best idea. However we found tickets online on Gumtree being sold for an event called Wonderland. We had never heard of it and couldn't find out much information on it, but it was advertised as being in a prime spot, directly under Harbour Bridge, with a great view of the Opera House. We bought them and crossed our fingers.

On the last day of the year we took a trip to Manly to see Steve and Della for lunch. They had just had a surf lesson and judging from their faces weren't going to be entering any competitions soon. Manly beach was very pretty, nicer than Bondi probably, and the food at the hotel matched. 2 towering burgers later, we took a ferry back to Sydney city to join the rest of the world there for one big party.

We went to Wonderland in the evening, the event turned out to be a VIP ticketed arena. The original tickets had been issued through ballots, won through competitions or, apparently, sold for $600 each. We paid $150. The tickets however would have been worth $600, the view from the arena was amazing and it hardly felt packed at all, compared to the surrounding areas. Various firework displays and entertainment was put on throughout the night until finally midnight came. The bridge, sky and opera house erupted with fireworks for 12 minutes. The show was brilliant and we couldn't believe how lucky we were.

Once the New Year had arrived, we quickly headed for the exit and back to the hotel. We were kicking off 2015 with an early flight to our next destination; Tokyo, Japan.