Jeff's Place - Travel - Jeff's Trip

New Years 2000. A huge celebration.

From: Jeff Nyveen
To: my friends and family
Date: Friday, December 31, 1999 5:23pm
Subject: Happy New Year!!!

It's 5:30pm on December 31, Friday afternoon. The celebration is starting to begin. A very happy and healthy New Year to you all.

I'll be in Sydney Harbour, where there's supposed to be an enormous fireworks display, concerts, alcohol, and maybe even some shootings.

I'm sitting in my hostel room, windows open and a soft, cool breeze flowing through the room. I managed to get a room at Eva's Backpackers for another few days at inflated millennium prices, after which I plan to rent a bedroom in a house or an apartment. It is clear, dry, and crisp outside, not a cloud in the sky. A perfect Sydney day.

I'm learning more about this place every day. Turns out that some mega-company called Telstra runs all the phone lines and charges up the butt for everything. It costs money to make any call, even local ones. I am now able to dial-up with my laptop now, so it should be a little easier to communicate.

Went out last night to a local bar called O'Malleys, and was introduced to VB, or Victoria Bitter, thanks to my roommates from Wales. That was after having, you guessed it, a Fosters.

The area I'm staying in, called King's Cross, is affectionately referred to by the locals as "the armpit of Sydney." Woke up early to get some "brekkie" and noticed that prostitutes line the street as early as 9am. Some hang out right in front of McDonald's. By the way, they serve McFlurries made with Nerds here. And you get served by Asians with Australian accents. Very surreal.

Off to Bondi Beach tomorrow.

Until next time,

Jeff

Sydney Harbour and the Rocks. The red X marks the spot I was standing when the clock struck 12 on New Years.
(photo by Stu)

Circular Quay at about 3:30pm on New Year's Eve. Already mobbed with people. A popular place because it's near the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge and offers a good view of the fireworks.

This cute girl was playing her violin in Circular Quay on New Year's Eve. I saw her playing the same tune in the same place 10 months later when I came back to Sydney for the Olympics.