2008 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras

I have done some crazy things in my first 33 years, but flying to Sydney for the weekend pretty much tops the list. My flights back and forth to/from Australia over the last three years netted me enough points, as of January this year, for a "free" return flight (that still cost £250 in taxes!). And as all points have a limited life on Singapore Airlines' KrisFlyer programme, and mine start expiring in May, it seemed sensible to use the points. Having only recently returned from a Christmas trip to Oz, and given my limited holidays, I decided to make it a brief six day trip. Yes, given the 22 hours flying time each way, this meant I only had 4 days in Sydney.

I left late in the evening of Wednesday 27th February, arriving in Brisbane early on Friday morning. Following breakfast with Mum and Dad, and a morning running town around surprising my grandparents, I jumped on a flight to Sydney. When I arrived at my hotel, the Central Railway Hotel in Chippendale, I almost burst into tears. I hadn't slept in a bed for 48 hours, and this hotel room was awful. I stayed one night before moving to my friend Geoffrey's wonderful apartment in Darlinghurst, with amazing city views.

Saturday was the day of the parade, and after a morning brunch at Bronte beach, I zipped around Oxford Street taking some photographs of the various (some, freaky) people who arrive hours and hours before the event. The parade was really good this year. We watched from the Glamour Bar, which only cost $200 for a good seat, and all you can eat/drink food and alcohol all evening.

After the parade, we trekked to the showgrounds for the party, which was lacklustre this year: muddy sound, average music choices, poor lighting in the RHI, AND I (along with thousands of others) got locked out of the RHI when Olivia Newton-John did her show (Xanadu) . Very annoying. Reports of that show are mixed, and now, days later, I don't mind so much. Anyhow, you can watch it on YouTube. Cyndi Lauper closed the night with a fantastic two-song set (Same Old F***ing Story and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun), which you can also watch on YouTube.

My favourite party all weekend was Toybox at Luna Park, which I went to on Sunday afternoon. The crowd was hot and up for it, the music was light and fluffy, and the lighting was really good. I arrived late, not expecting much, and was blown away. Check out the video footage of the last song/show on YouTube; it's fantastic.

The best bit about my flight home was my last two days at North Bondi Beach. It was great to see the sun, and sunbake and swim, and also to spend some time with some friends. I milked every minute, leaving the beach less than 3 hours before my flight departed!