Jess and Hannah
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G'day to you all from Sydney! Before I start recounting my travel tales I
have an important message for any Mardi Gras goers today: Make sure you find
your space early - once Oxford St fills up people will be directed to Flinders
St and by then - who knows what kind of view you'll end up with. The parade,
with no less than 9786 performers, starts on the corner of Liverpool and Oxford
St at 7pm with Dykes on Bikes. The rest of the 115 floats follow on at 7.45pm.
This truly spectacular event is not something you want to miss because of poor
planning, so I leave you with the words of the Parade Producer Brad Wright:
"We're expecting a couple of hundred thousand people - we urge you to plan
ahead." And if this fails, he says, "just be patient, smile, and happy Mardi
Gras!"
That (somewhat) public service announcement was brought to you in the pouring rain from the Mardi Gras media briefing in downtown Sydney yesterday morning. I somewhat foolishly tried to walk (the half an hour trip) there from our hostel in Kings Cross. In the pouring rain. And yes, within five minutes of leaving The Funk House Backpackers I had successfully managed to get myself and my girlfriend soaking wet. Talk about poor planning, I did not prepare for Sydney to be cold, blustery and raining and after months of sunshine in New Zealand, this weather is a bit of a shock to the system.
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Tomorrow's update will include pictures of the parade, that I promise you,
and my Mardi Gras cherry will be truly popped. Can't wait. For now, I'm off to
explore the suburbs that have earned the titles of Sydney's bohemian, hipster,
and alternative scenes, then find a decent after party (any suggestions, tweet
me: @hannahspyksma). Fingers crossed it doesn't rain again...
