Cookies and Cream (coloured blankets)

New Years Day.

Well, 2008 is a new year and deciding it was time to break the pattern, I found my bleary and definitely smelly self on a flight at 9am, heading to Melbourne for the Summer Dayze festival.

Summer Dayze is held in a giant venue in the middle of the park packed with 25,000 people, 3-storey inflatable dinosaurs, foam parties and more neon than the 80’s ever saw. Luckily for us, Smirnoff kindly laid on a musical igloo for us to cower from the blazing heat and rest our weary sunglasses.

Outside of the Smirnoff dancey ice fest, our old friends Groove Armada were pioneering the huge main stage and leading the raving masses through their classics.

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After New Year on the beach and New Years Day in the park, it was time for a little rest and respite and maybe something a little different. Luckily, doing things a little differently is what Melbourne is famous for and the next day I found myself on the roof of a 6-storey building watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas from a deckchair. The bar is called Cookie and the link I am going for relates to the truly deity-sent creamy fleece blankets, which are there to ensconce film fans in snuggly loveliness. If you find yourself in need of post party ideas, lounging in vast blankets lazily watching a massive cinema screen with skyscrapers behind it has to be up there.

While I only got to see it for two days, the Smirnoffers who got there first inform me that nightlife in Melbourne is as bespoke as it gets and Cookie is a typical example. As well as Cookie, Melbourne has bars inside shipping containers, bars with bottles suspended on bungee cords and bars which hand cut ice for every drink.

You can read more about Melbourne on their blogs. For now I’m happy to hang up my flip-flops and take a big old nap on the way to China…

Christmas and New Year

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, Smirnoff Ten were cooking pasta and sauce because they had spent all of their monthly budget and were poor as church mice.

Nice church mice with bonnets and long eyelashes and no inclinations to thieve cheese from the local 7/11, but skint critters nonetheless.

So vats of pasta were produced and washed down with diet coke and then out into the night they scurried in search of merriment and Christmas spirit and getting into places for free.

Thankfully, they had found larger creatures to adopt them on Christmas Day and Steph, Kareem and Luiza bounded to Bondi Beach for an all day BBQ bonanza with a rabble of English types they met in a bar.

After sausages and Smirnoff for Christmas Day, New Years Eve was a different beast altogether. Smirnoff had bought five of the ten tickets to see Groove Armada on Bondi Beach. After Boxing Day together, the Ten split in half (with five flying to Melbourne) and the remaining five soldiered on to Bondi for the massive event, managing to slope right to the front of the stage and set up residency there.

Aussie favourites Sneaky Sound System kicked things off, stomping through some sing-a-long classics and managing to draw the vast masses milling around various fairground rides and tents, towards the stage. This magnetism was continued by Bob Sinclair’s energetic mixes until the countdown for 2008 bound the crowd together in a rip tide of flailing energy and set the foundations for an amazing set from Groove Armada. The Smirnoff Five led the way from stage front with Kareem’s wide arms conducting the crowd as his orchestra, Takeshi hoisting screaming females onto his shoulders and John, Steph and Audette stomping around them like possessed woodland elves.

Without even considering the amazing performances and huuuuge scale sound and light systems, NYE 07 was unbeatable. The atmosphere was electric and for the Smirnoffers hailing from the more freezing, wet and windy corners of the globe, experiencing NYE under twinkly skies and in front of crashing waves was incredible. It was also the first NYE they had had as part of their new adventure and even if they had to survive on pasta for the next 12 months, being in sunny climes with their new Smirnoff family would always make up for it.

Meet the bullet points

There are so many things to do in Sydney that my poor strobe light addled little mind can’t assemble them into coherent prose.

Delving into the depths of my flickering thoughts, I can just pluck some vague croutons out of the soupy mass to act as a general guide. So, welcome, one and all to my bullet points.

Start Bullet points:

1. Before you even unpack, head to Kings Cross. Formerly a dodgy little customer favoured by ladies of the night and oversized rodents (I imagine), this area is now a treasure trove of bars and clubs. Imagine London’s East End with a light sprinkling of Soho around the edges. Make sure you head to Lotus for fine dining and a tiny hidden bar that serves up bespoke cocktails,
Tatler for fancy dress elitism (excessive charm needed to get in) and Hugo’s to strike some Vogue style poses.

(Lotus bar)

2. After you’ve conquered Kings Cross skip east a bit to Oxford St in Darlinghurst, home to everyone’s new favourite venue, The Oxford Arts Factory. Within the hallowed walls is an art gallery cum live music venue complete with friendly bar folk and acts ranging from The Gossip to obscure American country bands. After flailing around there, keep walking up the street and right at the end a thriving gay community will make itself known to you. Keep an eye out for the ‘Lick Her’ bottle shops and array of colourful bars.

3. If gigs and gays aren’t your thing, then head to the harbour, but not the obvious one. Sydney harbour is a bridge-sized banquet of photo ops but Darling Harbour is better for bars and clubs, and a bit of night time bowling.

Head to Cargo on the waterfront and seek out Dave the cocktail maestro or if you fancy raving around try ‘Famous’ a rambunctious night at Home club on a Friday for housey hits and a hidden gem of an indie room (fully stacked with air guitars and flying Sydney rockers).

4. If the city tires you out, spare a thought for Bondi Beach. Once you have received a light UV toasting and suffered painful thoughts of abdominal inadequacy, head to the bars that run along the coast of Bondi. Personal favourite Ravesi is right in the centre of the action and the slinky door creatures will even overlook thongs (flip flops) and singlets (vests) while the sun is out. If it’s possible to dust the sand from your most obvious orifices then getting upstairs might be an option too. There ye shall find a spacious terrace running around the bar as well as brand new sister bar Drift which is marketed as the glamorous, high heeled elder sibling.

5. After Bondi there’s the popular Manly Beach. Manly is a more obvious choice in terms of nightlife (as the beach is resplendent and thus leaves it wide open to shouty tourist bars and chain restaurants) but if it’s backpacker bargains and a bar full of fun you’re after then head along for the craic. (Side Note: Coogee Beach- much of the same)

End Bullet Points.