Waking up at stupid o` clock in (meaning 5am) in Melbourne to get my flight to Sydney (at 7am), I knew New Years Eve was going to be a long day… What I didn`t expect was the unexpected.
I was planning to meet Nancy at the Sydney airport, head to our apartment and take a nap before getting ready for New Years Eve. What I didn`t expect was first dealing with stupid people at the airport that couldn`t give me a straight answer on how to get from the domestic terminal to the international terminal. I knew it could be done without a taxi, but I was told 3 different ways, and they didn`t work, but I eventually got to the arrival gate to wait. Nancy`s flight was late and then her luggage didn`t make it on her flight, so we quickly got into plan B mode as were off to get her new clothes to wear for NYE in a hurry. After some shops here and there, we found a big mall and get her all the new dress and shoes and back to shower and get ready.
Nancy and I were lucky as we got to stay at Sam`s apartment. Sam is a friend of Nancy`s and he was wonderful to open his place up to us and made arrangements so we could get keys since he was going to be out of town when we arrived. So sweet! Funny part was since we got to his apartment so late, we saw a note on the mailbox we were supposed to ring and it said “the guests that are staying with Sam should now ring apartment 10 (not 4”. When we called up, no one answered in #4 or #10 and were thought we missed the people. As good luck had it, soon two women walked out the front door and we asked if there were in apartment #10 and they said yes. They were on their way out the door for the afternoon and we just happened to catch them. What luck we had! Sam lives in Newtown, which is a suburb of Sydney and it was a great place to explore. Little shops, places to eat and explore and a new place for me. I could have stayed here for a week and walked around. THANK YOU AGAIN SAM for letting us stay – we had a wonderful time!
For New Years Eve, we had purchased tickets for a all night party at Bondi Beach and were planning to meet other friends Monica and Effie. I had met them both when they were in New York last year visiting my friend Amanda. So we had fun people to go out with on NYE which is always a bonus. With our ticket, we had free drinks and appetizers from 6-8, so we wanted to be there on time to maximize this treat. I knew it would be a rough night for me as I was still so sick and was trying to put on a happy face and make it through the night. As it ended up, I left the party at 10:30pm as I felt so bad and it hurt to talk. I also didn`t want to get stuck at midnight with no way to get home and didn`t want to ruin the party with the others, so I took a cab back and watched the fireworks over the Sydney Harbor Bridge on TV which was fun.
On New Year Day, I spoke to Nancy on the phone, or tried to…as I had no voice. I guess going out wasn`t the best idea as I was sicker, but I stayed in all day and watched an entire season of Seinfeld on DVD, so that was fun!
I figured if I wasn`t better by January 2nd, I would have to find a doctor. The rest of my time in Sydney was centered around how I was feeling and trying to find a doctor. It`s not easy to find a doctor in another city or country, and especially in Australia as the end of December is holiday time and all the doctors offices I called were closed from before Christmas till after the first week in January, and Nancy and I were going to fly north for a sailing trip…so it was frustrating. I finally found a doctor to go to at Bondi Junction and was able to get some antibiotics as I had tracheitis. I was optimistic I would be better in a few days as that`s what the doctor said. I also wanted to be better as I can`t go scuba diving if I was still sick.
After one day of antibiotics, I was feeling better and Nancy and I were off to see the Oprah House, Harbour bridge and go to the Sydney Zoo. It was interesting to go to a zoo as I`ve seen so many amazing animals in the wild on my African Safari`s and traveling around but fun nonetheless. We saw lots of lazy kangaroos that wouldn`t hop around, and many cuddling koalas.
On the way back to Sydney, Nancy and I wandered around The Rocks, went to Lord Nelson`s Brewery (which I remember was the oldest pub in Sydney from the last time I was in Sydney) and had a few drinks there and met up with Effie for more drinks and dinner. So a fun day in Sydney.
Again, another city without much excitement as I was so sick. I think all in all I was sick for 2 weeks in Australia, and looking at the brighter side, it was in cities that I`ve already explored, so I didn`t feel like I missed out on seeing things.
Off to Airlie Beach for a sailing trip in the Whitsunday islands…