Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

Finally got my pictures uploaded in chronological order. I just have to reverse it! Lame... but at least I have it figured out after my 10th try :)

Spent the entire day at Manly Beach on Friday--my day off! If you can see, check out the sign and then the set of legs sticking straight out of the water on the left side. Hahaha, good timing on my picture perfect moment!

Saturday morning at "Pancakes on the Rocks" with Danny, Matt, Anna, and Abby. I don't really like pancakes, but anything tastes better with butterscotch, chocolate, ice cream, and bananas on it :) SO GOOD.

Exploring the Market at the Rocks. That spider in the frame is actually pretty common in central Australia. I think I may skip out on a central Australian vacation!

Abby (from Scotland!), Anna, and I waiting for HOURS before the Mardi Gras parade. I bought a pink Australian flag in support of Mardi Gras! It's definitely spicing up my plain brick walls. Gotta love room decor. 

The start of Mardi Gras! A whole bunch of Lesbian lovers on their motorcycles... haha

A very "conversative" picture and float compared to the rest of the night!

Joan Rivers was there!!!! It's hard to tell because of the lights... but trust me... she is pretty damn ugly. Too much plastic surgery. Rumor was Carson from "Queer Eye" was also there! So sad I missed him. 

Hahaha, this man's hairdo was OUT. OF. CONTROL.

The Sydney Opera House at 5:30 a.m. Anna, Abby, and I stayed out in Sydney until the sunrose on Sunday morning. 

Sydney from the steps of the Opera House-- 6 a.m.

Myself and the beautiful sunrise :) Good thing you can't really see me... I was pretty tired after 24 hours of being in the city!

This weekend was extremely entertaining and jam packed with things going on! I was starting to get homesick a few days ago... so the busy schedule definitely helped me get my mind off some things going on back in the States. 

Friday has basically become the official "Beach Day" with friends! This past Friday we went to Manly Beach and soaked up some rays (aka got a little burnt. Note the AWFUL tan lines in the pictures above) Since I'm a direct exchange student I have a "concession pass" that let's me travel while paying HALF of what everyone else has to pay! It is amazing to pack up and get to and from the beach with only $5. Myself, Anna, and Kim stayed a little later than everyone else and ended up going to 2 different ice cream places in a matter of 15 minutes. Hahaha... we really wanted ice cream, okay?

Later that night, my friend Danny had some people over for a "barbie" at his apartment! I tried just a nimble of kangaroo because the meat wasn't really cooked... but the sausages were VERY delish :)

Saturday morning, I woke up early (kinda...) and headed to the city at 10:30 with Anna, Abby, Danny, and Matt. We ate some DELICIOUS pancakes at the famous "Pancakes on the Rocks" and walked around the Market at the Rocks. "The Rocks" is a VERY nice part of town with designer shopping, old pubs, and just beautiful buildings and streets. It's all made out of stone. Or rocks?

We walked EVERYWHERE on Saturday. We went from way up north at the Rocks to Oxford Street where the Mardi Gras events and parade was going down. It's advised to get there at least 3 or 4 hours before, so we did. It was a lot of waiting but we got a "front row" spot at a great location, so it was worth it! The parade was outrageous. I had never seen so many topless women or men in just thongs. Well... I have actually never seen MANY of those at all in my life, so seeing both of these at least every 5 minutes was definitely pretty weird. But we had a blast, and I'm really glad we went. It's something you just have to see if you're in Sydney during Mardi Gras season! 

Afterwards, Danny and Matt peace'd out and us girls met up with some more friends on the other side of Darling Harbour. It was another long... but ENTERTAINING... walk. On the way, we caught a couple "making sweet love" in the very public Darling Harbour park (eww) and also saw about five 13-year-olds resist arrest and get tackled down by police officers. We had NO idea what they did, but we sat down on a bench a ways a way and just had to watch. Hahaha... it was like watching "COPS" live. One of the girls was screaming so loudly, it was pretty freaky, but just weird. Mardi Gras is a pretty wild and huge festival, so they could have been up to anything!

We met up with friends at this Prymont Bridge Hotel bar and ended up making friends with this 41-year-old Fiji man and stayed there all talking until 4 in the morning! I was struggling to stay awake by this point... but since the last bus home leaves at 3, we decided that we just HAD to stay to watch the sunrise. We walked a fair distance BACK to "Pancakes on the Rocks" and had some caffeine and 1 scrambled egg to stay awake for another couple hours. On the way, we were approached by a male prostitute which reminded me of "Flight of the Conchords" so much, I could not stop laughing afterwards!!! My friends didn't understand since they have never seen the show!

Around 5:15 we made our way over to the Opera House and watched the sunrise. It was beautiful, but pretty cold and I was ready for bed. I took the 7:06 a.m. bus home and slept from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. Needless to say, that wasn't enough sleep and I will go to bed as soon as I wrap up this post!

It was an incredible, but long, day in the city! I'm really glad we stayed up for the sunrise. It was definitely an experience :) You'd be surprised how many other people were hanging out doing the same thing.

I hope everything at home is well! I miss and love you all everyday!

xoxo,

Carly

"If the dark of the night arrives in the middle of the day. I'm gonna say my prayers of sweetness and light, fix myself a Coke and hope it's alright." :)  -- The song "1967" by Adrian Belew