Sydney, New Years evening

At the Pioneer Lodge things were coming to an end. I woke up and found most of the other guys had already left for their last sunrise tour around the National Park. I had taken too many pictures of that rock already, didn't need anymore. I didn't get their names or contacts, but since we were on the same airplane we had plenty of time. I got my stuff together and went to the reception to wait for the shuttle.
Kitty who had helped me organize my days was in the reception, so I went up to thank her for that and wish her a happy New Year. I asked her about the difficulty level of the hikes, if it was a little too much on the conservative side, and she agreed. But there are many tourists who have never hiked or been to a desert before, who come to Ayers Rock that also think they can do the different hiking trails. They have to take those people into account when writing signs, that is maybe a good thing. I suggested they could let younger or more experienced people know that they could be finished a lot faster, it would be easier to plan things. I could have saved a day...
At the airport, it turns out there are 2 flights to Sydney with 20 minutes in between, and the other guys are all on the Virgin flight, so I did not get to see them again, a pity. That doctor was a very interesting guy and had lots of travel information
We board the airplane and head for Sydney, looked like it was going to be a long flight with that propeller, but it was actually ok.
By the way, I was only going to Sydney on New Years evening because Monika told me to!
We got a good view of the landscape when we took off, saw those pieces of rock that had fascinated us all for the last couple of days. So many strange people on that plane, haha
I arrive at Sydney Airport, which is quite dead, nobody wants to travel today it seems. The free shuttle that I was promised just took off and that was of course the last one for today, so I was left with the train option. I studied the map for a second, it looked very easy and headed to the central station to switch trains.
At the central station things got crazy, so many people and I couldn't find the train I was boarding. They had some 25 different platforms in different levels, with no real good map. I eventually found my platform and took the train - the wrong direction. I then had to get out a couple of stations later when I found out and get the train the other way, which was now packed to the edge. It didn't help I had a huge backpack taking up room for another person.
I didn't have much power left on the phone, but it was enough to guide me to the street where the hostel was, then it was just following the numbers.
The hostel was the most messy hostel I have ever seen. This place you could only book with a minimum of 7 days, so people tend to stay a little longer here. They've more or less moved in. Terrible
Some of the other guys in the room literally had boxes under the bed, I guess they are not really travelers, I don't see any backpack.
I did not have anything planned myself so when Dave and Olga from the dive boat sent out an email that they were going to be in Sydney as well, I decided to go and spend the night with them.

They were hanging out in a bar not far from the observatory and planning to see the fireworks from there. I was a little skeptical that we could find any place there to see it, but went anyway. I had a place in Kings Cross which was pretty far away, maybe 30-45 minutes walk.
The streets were full of people, and I mean full. Some of them didn't move in any direction and people started pushing other people to get their kids to safety. Other ignorants just plowed through the crowd
I used the phone as a GPS and at some point the data connection stopped working, probably because of too many people at the scene. So I had to walk back, get a good look at the map and walk blindly towards the area where the bar was supposed to be. I eventually found the bar and the guys and a lot of new people too.There were a Swedish couple, an Australian younger couple, Dave and Olga and then me.

We had a few beers before heading up the hill to the observatory where we ended up getting some phenomenal spot just 20 minutes before the main firework. During the evening they had been warming up with some smaller fireworks, just to remind people not to forget the big one.

We had a view of the Sydney Harbor bridge and one of the 8 synchronized fireworks, so we should be in a good spot. Looking back at the crowd in the park a few minutes later I realized we came just in time.

Then the firework started, it was quite a spectacle, and indeed we had a super nice spot. There was a ledge where I could put the camera to get some nice firework pictures, tried to take some holding the camera, but they all look funky.
The firework was quite cool, didn't last that long but was quite impressive. I have to say though that I saw a firework show in Thailand, Chiang Mai earlier this year when they celebrated the festival of lights, that still beats any other firework I have ever seen. Also this one.
We went back to the bar again, one of the guys had his 30th birthday and we promised to come back and have a few drinks with him. Had to order some Tequila for his birthday of course, and then a few more and a few more later. His face got longer and longer and he started to really not feel well. Another German couple joined in as well, so we were talking German, Swedish and Danish, everyone understood the other languages, but were not so good at speaking them. Must have been a very interesting conversation to listen to, haha
At 2 or was it 3, can't remember the bar started to close, I guess that was what really saved the birthday boy. I helped him and his girlfriend Rachel outside, but he didn't feel well and this guy came with a bottle of water and a box for the guy to sit on. Now, that's good new years spirit. There he was sitting a few minutes before he painted the entire pavement with Tequila. Now, that's a good birthday, haha.
Now I just had to find my way back. The phone was already pretty empty from having been used as a GPS on the way to the bar, it was definitely not going to last the entire way back so I made a decision to go a little longer but then also only have to turn once. An hour later of so I returned to the Kings Cross neighborhood, which looked like it was going to keep partying till the next morning. I realized I had not had any food yet and found a place that sold a super nice chicken kebab... At least that is what I remember, haha