Brett: So we've just been to the 30th anniversary of Sydney Mardi Gras.
Babsi: Wahoo. It was really, really good. Awesome, I'm still in party mood. It was great, beautiful. I really enjoyed it.
Brett: Yeah, we hopped on the bus from Bondi at what time?
Babsi: Ah, five. Something like five.
Brett: And we crawled home at?
Babsi: Five (Laughs). Crazy really but awesome. It was so much fun because the people were so sweet. I generally think that the Australians are one of the sweetest people. They are so nice and fun and friendly, and they were all sort of dressed up as well.
Brett: Not all dressed up.
Babsi: Not all. But some of them had dressed up elements. They would have like a colourful feather boa or something like that, something really fun. It was so cute it was really one of the best atmospheres that I’ve ever experienced.
Brett: yeah, there was a lovely atmosphere there, wasn’t there? Though there were a few people there who had been drinking for a few hours, when we got there, but even then it wasn’t that threatening.
Babsi: No, no. It was fine, brilliant. It was beautiful, more like one of these London light festivals. Really, really friendly.
Brett: It was kind of family orientated, wasn’t it?
Babsi: Yeah, yeah. It was sweet, very sweet. Very cool, and the parade itself was stunning and had lots of costumes. One guy told me that they make all the costumes themselves, which is the way it works in Nottinghill Carnival. Which is also really cool. But in London things sometimes seem like they can quickly get out of hand, and that wasn’t the case here.
Brett: There were a few people shouting and drunken incidents, but for such a huge crowd it was nothing.
Babsi: Yeah, considering the amount. It was such a huge event.
Brett: And totally mainstream. The first float was the police float, and there were firemen, and then surf rescue people as well.
Babsi: I think there was even the army at one point. Wasn’t the army in the parade?
Brett: I don’t know if that was the real army.
Babsi: (Laughs) Maybe not.
Brett: I don’t know. But there was certainly the police there on a float. And the firemen, they were stripped down to their underpants, dancing to techno music.
Babsi: Yeah, that was funny. And there were some beautiful, beautiful costumes. And all the people, there were some people in, I think, some offices and in their houses watching.
Brett: All along the route.
Babsi: they were, like, watching. It was sweet, incredibly sweet. I guess it was Sydney at it’s sweetest. And it was well organised.
Brett: Yeah, they threw bottles of water into the crowd, and whistles, made sure everyone had a good time. They had their own little TV station on a couple of really big screen TVs. It was really well organised.
Babsi: It was well organised.
Brett: Then after the carnival we went down to Circular Quay, had a pizza at twelve at night.
Babsi: Quite late.
Brett: At a tourist place, a tourist restaurant. And then went looking for a club.
Babsi: And, like, if you don’t know where the club is, where the actual location is, it can be a bit tedious. You end up walking up and down the street thinking, “Oh dear, where is the stupid club.” We were looking for a particular club which some people had said would be good and friendly and stuff, but we couldn’t find it. I still have no idea where it is. And then we met this really friendly guy and, that’s the other thing about Australia, you meet so many nice people, he was friendly and recommended us, what was it? Chinese Laundry.
Brett: Uh huh.
Babsi: And it’s a really cool club. Really cool, it’s just awesome. It’s got absolutely everything. It’s really arty.
Brett: Yes, there’s lots of murals, and it’s really well painted. It’s not just painted black, you know how a lot of clubs are painted black. This one actually had art on the walls.
Babsi: It was so funky. And the terracotta statues on the washing machines. They were so cool. It has mirror balls on the ceiling with Chinese umbrellas. It was just funky. We were really lucky to have met this guy.
Brett: And it had an outside area upstairs with a bar.
Babsi: Yeah, that was awesome.
Brett: With people just chilling.
Babsi: And smoking.
Brett: Yeah people were smoking, but it wasn’t really smokey.
Babsi: We’re definitely going there again.
Brett: You bet.
Babsi: We had a nice day and night out. And now I’m knackered. It’s funny when you see the parade at the beginning with all the people, and then you see it in the middle when the parade is on, and then you see it at the end when there are just a few people moving about. And you know that the ones with wings were at the Mardi Gras. That was so cool, it was so funny.
Brett: And there were so many poor women in high heels who had walked all up and down the parade and couldn’t walk anymore.
Babsi: Brutal.
Brett: Brutal, crying in pain. We saw four or five of them.
Babsi: And some just took of their shoes and walked bare foot. I guess you eventually just have to do that. I think I did that once when I had really uncomfortable shoes. I walked with bare feet. There’s nothing else you can do.
Brett: There was one woman who did that though, but she cut her foot.
Babsi: Yeah, because there’s heaps of, you know, broken glass. But that’s the other thing, it wasn’t that messy, considering there were so many people. I don’t know what they did but it wasn’t that messy. The Nottinghill Carnival, now that was messy. I took a photo of all the newspaper and things around, that was messy.
Brett: It was messy though.
Babsi: No, for the amount of people it wasn’t that bad. And it’s beautiful for a city to do this sort of thing anyway. It’s kind of cool.
Brett: It started with a lot of sunshine and there were a lot of people dancing around. After that it starts to get darker, and then by the end of the parade it’s really dark and there’s lots of lights and even some fireworks.
Babsi: Yeah, the fireworks were nice, they were fluffy. And somebody told me that it’s a bigger event even than new year. It’s a huge event, gorgeous.
Brett: Yeah the parade was cool, but just looking at the crowd was one of the coolest things. All the people who felt comfortable just turning up the way they want. Dressed in some really outlandish outfits, but like, it was cool that day.
Babsi: What do you mean outlandish?
Brett: Well, stuff you wouldn’t go in to the office in. Even on Casual Friday.
Babsi: Yeah, but they were really creative. With this dressing up thing you can really see people’s creativity, and I LOVE that. They had really, really good ideas. One woman had some sort of silver nail varnish, or whatever, and she painted the other one’s arm. It was sweet, really cute. It brings out people’s creativity. They’re like, “Yes I’ve got an outfit, now what am I going to do with it.” And they really did something. They were some of the most creative outfits I’ve seen, to be honest. And there was this group of women sitting down in helmets. They were funny.
Brett: Yeah, we’ve got photos of all this. This is going to be probably our post with the most photos. It’s going to be mostly pictures this time. I think we got some good ones.
Babsi: Yeah, we’ll have to look at them.
Brett: Yeah, we’ll have to look at them. That’s what we’ll do now.
Babsi: Oh, and, five spirals.
Brett: Definitely. Five spirals. One of the seven wonders of the world.
Babsi: Yes, it’s just that good. Drop everything and come to Mardi Gras next year.
Brett: Yeah, we hopped on the bus from Bondi at what time?
Babsi: Ah, five. Something like five.
Brett: And we crawled home at?
Babsi: Five (Laughs). Crazy really but awesome. It was so much fun because the people were so sweet. I generally think that the Australians are one of the sweetest people. They are so nice and fun and friendly, and they were all sort of dressed up as well.
Brett: Not all dressed up.
Babsi: Not all. But some of them had dressed up elements. They would have like a colourful feather boa or something like that, something really fun. It was so cute it was really one of the best atmospheres that I’ve ever experienced.
Brett: yeah, there was a lovely atmosphere there, wasn’t there? Though there were a few people there who had been drinking for a few hours, when we got there, but even then it wasn’t that threatening.
Babsi: No, no. It was fine, brilliant. It was beautiful, more like one of these London light festivals. Really, really friendly.
Brett: It was kind of family orientated, wasn’t it?
Babsi: Yeah, yeah. It was sweet, very sweet. Very cool, and the parade itself was stunning and had lots of costumes. One guy told me that they make all the costumes themselves, which is the way it works in Nottinghill Carnival. Which is also really cool. But in London things sometimes seem like they can quickly get out of hand, and that wasn’t the case here.Brett: There were a few people shouting and drunken incidents, but for such a huge crowd it was nothing.
Babsi: Yeah, considering the amount. It was such a huge event.
Brett: And totally mainstream. The first float was the police float, and there were firemen, and then surf rescue people as well.
Babsi: I think there was even the army at one point. Wasn’t the army in the parade?
Brett: I don’t know if that was the real army.
Babsi: (Laughs) Maybe not.
Brett: I don’t know. But there was certainly the police there on a float. And the firemen, they were stripped down to their underpants, dancing to techno music.
Babsi: Yeah, that was funny. And there were some beautiful, beautiful costumes. And all the people, there were some people in, I think, some offices and in their houses watching.
Brett: All along the route.
Babsi: they were, like, watching. It was sweet, incredibly sweet. I guess it was Sydney at it’s sweetest. And it was well organised.
Brett: Yeah, they threw bottles of water into the crowd, and whistles, made sure everyone had a good time. They had their own little TV station on a couple of really big screen TVs. It was really well organised.
Babsi: It was well organised.Brett: Then after the carnival we went down to Circular Quay, had a pizza at twelve at night.
Babsi: Quite late.
Brett: At a tourist place, a tourist restaurant. And then went looking for a club.
Babsi: And, like, if you don’t know where the club is, where the actual location is, it can be a bit tedious. You end up walking up and down the street thinking, “Oh dear, where is the stupid club.” We were looking for a particular club which some people had said would be good and friendly and stuff, but we couldn’t find it. I still have no idea where it is. And then we met this really friendly guy and, that’s the other thing about Australia, you meet so many nice people, he was friendly and recommended us, what was it? Chinese Laundry.
Brett: Uh huh.
Babsi: And it’s a really cool club. Really cool, it’s just awesome. It’s got absolutely everything. It’s really arty.
Brett: Yes, there’s lots of murals, and it’s really well painted. It’s not just painted black, you know how a lot of clubs are painted black. This one actually had art on the walls.
Babsi: It was so funky. And the terracotta statues on the washing machines. They were so cool. It has mirror balls on the ceiling with Chinese umbrellas. It was just funky. We were really lucky to have met this guy.
Brett: And it had an outside area upstairs with a bar.
Babsi: Yeah, that was awesome.
Brett: With people just chilling.
Babsi: And smoking.
Brett: Yeah people were smoking, but it wasn’t really smokey.
Babsi: We’re definitely going there again.
Brett: You bet.
Babsi: We had a nice day and night out. And now I’m knackered. It’s funny when you see the parade at the beginning with all the people, and then you see it in the middle when the parade is on, and then you see it at the end when there are just a few people moving about. And you know that the ones with wings were at the Mardi Gras. That was so cool, it was so funny.
Brett: And there were so many poor women in high heels who had walked all up and down the parade and couldn’t walk anymore.
Babsi: Brutal.
Brett: Brutal, crying in pain. We saw four or five of them.
Babsi: And some just took of their shoes and walked bare foot. I guess you eventually just have to do that. I think I did that once when I had really uncomfortable shoes. I walked with bare feet. There’s nothing else you can do.
Brett: There was one woman who did that though, but she cut her foot.
Babsi: Yeah, because there’s heaps of, you know, broken glass. But that’s the other thing, it wasn’t that messy, considering there were so many people. I don’t know what they did but it wasn’t that messy. The Nottinghill Carnival, now that was messy. I took a photo of all the newspaper and things around, that was messy.
Brett: It was messy though.
Babsi: No, for the amount of people it wasn’t that bad. And it’s beautiful for a city to do this sort of thing anyway. It’s kind of cool.
Brett: It started with a lot of sunshine and there were a lot of people dancing around. After that it starts to get darker, and then by the end of the parade it’s really dark and there’s lots of lights and even some fireworks.Babsi: Yeah, the fireworks were nice, they were fluffy. And somebody told me that it’s a bigger event even than new year. It’s a huge event, gorgeous.
Brett: Yeah the parade was cool, but just looking at the crowd was one of the coolest things. All the people who felt comfortable just turning up the way they want. Dressed in some really outlandish outfits, but like, it was cool that day.
Babsi: What do you mean outlandish?
Brett: Well, stuff you wouldn’t go in to the office in. Even on Casual Friday.
Babsi: Yeah, but they were really creative. With this dressing up thing you can really see people’s creativity, and I LOVE that. They had really, really good ideas. One woman had some sort of silver nail varnish, or whatever, and she painted the other one’s arm. It was sweet, really cute. It brings out people’s creativity. They’re like, “Yes I’ve got an outfit, now what am I going to do with it.” And they really did something. They were some of the most creative outfits I’ve seen, to be honest. And there was this group of women sitting down in helmets. They were funny.
Brett: Yeah, we’ve got photos of all this. This is going to be probably our post with the most photos. It’s going to be mostly pictures this time. I think we got some good ones.
Babsi: Yeah, we’ll have to look at them.
Brett: Yeah, we’ll have to look at them. That’s what we’ll do now.
Babsi: Oh, and, five spirals.
Brett: Definitely. Five spirals. One of the seven wonders of the world.
Babsi: Yes, it’s just that good. Drop everything and come to Mardi Gras next year.
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