Christmas in Sydney, Australia

Author: Matt Preston Become a contributor

Firstly apologies for the delay in what is obviously a completely non-topical subject now but if you’ve ever attempted moving to Sydney before Christmas you’ll have some idea of how hectic it can be.

The heat of Asia was quickly squashed by the cool and rainy conditions as we came in to land in Australia. A half second glimps of the amazing Sydney city skyline is all we got before touching down at Kingsford Smith Airport. Most people just call it Sydney Airport. Boring eh.

Our S.E Asia adventure behind us, the rain was a harsh reminder that we’re not in Australia to sight see. At least not too much. Now it’s all about work and setting up a new home for a while. The weather soon improved, then got worse, then improved again. In fact Sydney’s weather is much like England’s, only when it’s hot it’s really hot!

We had 22 nights booked in the “Big Hostel” on Elizabeth Street. A nice enough place with some friendly staff and up to 170 friendly backpackers. It’s best feature being the roof top terrace where we spent many a night drinking dodgy cheap wine the aussie un-affectionately call “Goon”.

The first thing you notice about Sydney is how expensive it is. OK it’s probably the second thing you notice. The first is the amazing iconic buildings of the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. THEN you notice how expensive everything is. There’s a high tax on alcohol, very few chain stores to drive down prices of goods and with the current exchange rate with the British Pound being appalling it was a bit of a shock coming from some of the cheapest parts of the world.

Australia doesn’t really do Christmas. They say because it’s just another BBQ on the beach to them. It’s surprising as it seems they’re missing a commercial trick here. of course there are still a few crazy people with their houses covered in lights but there’s no lights in the city centre and very few decorations in the shopping malls.

Christmas day was a surreal experience. Paying $25 to join the Hostel’s BBQ on the roof top. The food was amazing and it was a strange experience wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Unfortunately the weather didn’t hold out for very long. Rain soon poured down continuously from 3pm onwards reducing the party to a huddle of drunk people dancing under a quickly erected plastic banner for shelter. Still we had fun!

Christmas in Sydney is really about New Years Eve. It’s why most of the 1.2 million tourists flock to Sydney. Their fireworks are world renowned and rightly so. Each year they get bigger and better and thanks to an official website you can find a good vantage point from one of hundreds of parks, buildings, cafes, bars and boats. Most of the parks are free, most of the boats will cost you around $1000. We opted for the free park!

Our advice to anybody wanting to see the Sydney New Years Eve Fireworks is get there early. We were advised of this and made our way down to the park at 8am! All parks have a capacity and of course the best views are quickly snapped up. We were around the 500th people to enter our 5000 capacity park area at Tarpian Precinct, one of the best places to view the bridge. 8am sounds like an early start but it’s NYE! what else have you got to do? Thankfully there were 12 of us so playing cards, chatting and munching on home made sandwiches and pringles for 16 hours was no problem for us! The entertainment starts at 5pm with acrobatic planes, fire engine boats spraying water and the “family fireworks” at 9pm for those with kids who should be in bed before midnight.

I’ve never been quite so excited by a New Years Eve event in my life. When you’re waiting for 16 hours for midnight to arrive the completely irrational nerves kick in and the excitement builds. When the countdown hits zero and the 12 minute firework show begins everyone is at fever pitch. As for the fireworks, I garantee you’ll never see a more impressive display anywhere in the world. $5 Million well spent i say!

I’d highly recommend Christmas in Sydney especially if you’re used to cold, damp and this year rather snow covered festivities. It’s a surreal break with tradition and always ends with a bang!