This is going to be good. Sydney's an amazing city and New Year there is just as brilliant. Well, it should be if it's anything like the last time I was there...
Also, Sydney's a good starting point for a couple of weeks in Australia. We can relax and explore the city for a couple of days before heading off to see Oz's highlights. Claire can get over the jet lag and I can enjoy having someone to share the travel fun with for a bit.
So, what should we do in Sydney? The New Year celebrations are the obvious choice and it seems like an awesome way for Claire to spend her birthday (also on New Year's Eve), but aside from that, Sydney has plenty to offer. Taronga Zoo is great and I'd really love to check out the beaches, just because it seems like the thing to do in Sydney! Bondi, anyone?
Last time I was in Sydney we only had a couple of days over the New Year, so we didn't really get chance to do all the exploring. I think the most we did was going up one of the towers on the famous Harbour Bridge. Don't think I'll be forking out to climb the bridge itself though...
There's plenty of museums, galleries and parks to check out and even the possibility of seeing whales without ever getting on a boat, courtesy of some amazing views from the coast. Oh, so many choices and still so little time - if Claire's going to see the highlights of Australia like the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru, we won't be spending that long in Sydney.
And here we hit a bit of a snag. Sydney's great. New Year there is great. Accommodation costs... not so much. The first hostel I looked at wanted to charge £100 per person to stay on New Year's Eve and it wasn't much cheaper on the days either side. Others weren't much better - anything up to £80 seems standard.
So I started trawling the hotels instead and yes, some of these would be as good or better than a hostel for about the same price. I suggested to Claire that it might be an idea to take this option instead and, given that she'll have a nearly 24 hour flight, she agreed.
That would have been that had I not then remembered Airbnb. I wasn't planning on explaining what Airbnb is, but Claire didn't seem to know, so I'll assume it's not as well known as I thought it was. Airbnb is a system where folks can rent out spare rooms or even entire homes to others. I'd expected this to be fairly expensive for Sydney over New Year, but I've found some really decent places for a relatively low price. Certainly better value than a hostel or hotel.
So yes, the places I've looked at are a bit further out of the centre, but Sydney has a decent public transport system and I'm willing to make that trade off. After all, much as I want to have an amazing New Year in Sydney, I still have a budget to stick to and I'll take savings where I can find them.
Where do you dream of spending New Year? Do you have any suggestions for visiting Sydney on a budget? Why not share in the comments below.
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