An Antipodean Adventure

I rushed back from Fraser Island to catch the largest gay pride march on the planet, the Sydney Mardi Gras. I had obviously been overloaded by all of the macho activities I had been taking part in  he previous weeks.

Sarah was no longer in town, so I was staying in a hostel this time in Sydney. Even though I had made a booking on Hostelworld, the hostel refused to honour my booking. “Haha,” the clerk said, “we’ve been fully booked for four days. It’s Mardi Gras you see?” Being well aware that it was Mardi Gras and that it would be impossible to find anything else in town, I refused his offer to refund my deposit, started being terribly British and explained to him the principles of leaving deposits to secure a booking.

After several minutes, he conceded, but only on condition I didn’t tell his boss he was letting me stay. I didn’t enquire as to quite how he had managed to conjure up a spare bed, when five minutes previously he was “fully-booked”.

The three boys from Stoke I was sharing a room with, really didn’t get the hints I was dropping that it wasn’t advisable to make homophobic comments in my company. I really need to practice my camp accent!

I wrapped myself up in my Pink Jack and went to meet up with Sarah’s friend Katie for the parade. Her group did really well securing one of the best spots on the parade route, and we got some marvellous pictures.

Matthew Mitcham (gold medal Olympian) leads the parade…

An event for women and children too…

The Aussies have stolen our flag!

Surf Rescue Club 😉

Pam-Ann: please take your positions for take-off!

Do NOT feed the bisexuals!

The Scottish contingent…

No big gossip on the evening I’m afraid. I had a 7:30am start the next morning to get to the Blue Mountains (see below), for my final day in Australia before heading off to New Zealand.