TravelVoice Journal - SYDNEY ... it's Mardi Gras Month

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SYDNEY ... it's Mardi Gras Month

by Nic Senior & Trevor Sinclair

The biggest month long event in Sydney is now the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. The festival is launched on the steps of the Sydney Opera House on February 9th to an expected crowd of 30,000 people. As thousands of people flock to events over the next 3 weeks, our editor, Trevor Sinclair and colleague Nic Senior, have some insight that visitors to Sydney should find helpful.

It may look it … but … Sydney is not at the bottom of the world.

As the main gateway to Australia, Sydney is an expansive city of acceptance, where "G'day," kangaroos and cork hats are only part of the Aussie story.

As Sydney launches its 23rd Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, now that the world has seen us throughout the coverage of the Olympics, it’s time to dispel some myths and see what the city really has to offer.

It was once a slow run from the airport to the city, but now Sydney has a newly built $3.20 (Australian Dollars) tunnel. Today, it takes less than fifteen minutes to get into the heart of the Olympic city, and travel means everything, if you hope to appreciate all corners of this sunny city's culture.

Enjoy a safe 360° panoramic view from Sydney AMP Tower, 305 metres above sea level (Sydney AMP Tower boasts itself as the tallest building in town. Because even down under, size matters … though I must say the views whilst dining @ Restaurant 41 are probably the best I’ve enjoyed anywhere in the world … especially from “the gents” … and that’s looking OUT the window!). The city centre is a maze of activity by day, but relatively a ghost town by night. Suits and cafes gain in momentum as the sun grows hotter; people race to and fro and pedestrians and bicycle couriers disobey all road laws.

Step into China Town for a taste of Yum Cha. Marigold is one of the busier restaurants, but this doesn't seem to affect the speediness of service. Likewise, is Choy’s, one of the oldest establishments in Chinatown. In and out with a bang, boarding the monorail, and on to Darling Harbour's erogenous zone of entertainment, it’s where nightlife struggles to maintain its good reputation amongst regular beer brawls amongst the yobbos who crash in from the West of a weekend, but Home is well worth a visit on the right night.

Darling Harbour is the home of sharks, stingrays and seals, ocean residents, brought to the surface by the illuminating Sydney Aquarium and the Imax Cinema.

At Circular Quay, the Opera House hides behind a fresh facade of apartments and hotels, or “the toasters” as we call them, built for the rich. They popped up from nowhere to hide the lush green landscape of Government House and The Botanic Gardens behind them. In the vastness of the Botanic Gardens, children's train rides are a must for any simple, but fun-filled mind.

A guided tour of the Opera House leads beneath the famous sails to an appreciation of the controversy involved in the creation of this architectural wonder. Cost: $12.90. To the other side of Farm Cove stands The Rocks. 200 years ago, convicts were housed there, segregated from the high lives of officers and their ladies. Today, walking tours tell the history: of how criminals mixed with the gentry, of how residents fought with governments to protect their homes … of how expensive tourist shopping can be.

For gay and lesbian readers staying in the city, jump on a number 380 bus, and hit the Golden Mile of Oxford Street. Stretching from College Street on the corner of Hyde Park to the designer label shops of Paddington, there are obvious signs of a homosexual take-over. Pink triangles and rainbow flags abound. The annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parades itself along part of this path. Finding its roots in a demonstrative clash with police in 1978, this month-long festival serves as a political and celebratory reminder of gay visibility in Sydney. Over half a million spectators come to cheer and ogle what is on display during the parade and probably another couple of million visit all year round. Men with dogs and the arse ripped outta their pants. Nose and nipple-pierced girls walking hand in hand. More cafes, clubs, bars and restaurants (though of late, most of which are Thai) than are possible in one night. Sex clubs and saunas, adult video shops … (aren’t they illegal?). Aussie-style Drag queens at the Albury with their beefed-up bodies and high-heeled humour, Gilligan’s (named after the adjacent Gilligan’s Island … a traffic island where lost Saturday night souls often seek refuge - of course the appropriately christened, Gingers, upstairs) serving sumptuous cocktails. Stonewall with its “non-attitude” (at least on the ground floor) and three floors of various fun, ARQ to take you dancing until the early hours of the morning (I even spotted a “straight” friend burying his tongue down a boy’s throat there). And there's Palms for lovers of older style clubs with older style cabaret, retro music and a classic audience to match.

Newtown, in its inner burb way, is a place that thrills me with its mixture of people. The shops on King Street tell their tale. I’ve had my hair cut there by Chris at Bedrock for 10 or so years. Everything from incense to art to op-shops to edibles. Newtowners are renowned for their willingness to accept almost anything (except for McDonalds … which like its counter part on Oxford Street, was closed down). In its place stands an Irish bar, because the tradition of Guinness is more culturally pleasing than the American burger. Even gay life on this side of the city seems to enjoy holding on to the past. The Newtown Hotel is as attitude-free and label-less as any good 70's bar ever was. In local Erskineville, a quiet suburb slowly being swallowed by investors, the Imperial Hotel hosts regular "bingay" nights. That's bingo for gays. Verbal abuse of the winner is a must in this caring, sharing home of Priscilla (you may recognise this pub from movie!). Down the road in Camperdown (not camp it up), Caesar's Bar rules, a night-club where the shows are sometimes unprofessional, go-go boys are not very trim, and gay men and lesbians are not segregated. This past is definitely worth a visit, if only for the garden bar.

Back East, Kings Cross, an area that has a false reputation for being dangerous, is equally insistent on "anything goes." The main street is laced with drugs, pimps, sex clubs and prostitutes. It is also a place filled with the history of revolt. People live for themselves here, often battling the rules of an intolerant wider world.

And of course there are the beaches. What is Sydney without its beaches? A 30-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay lies the sun-soaked shores of Manly. Across from the wharf, Eden Creative Arts Centre is a must for wholesome food and healthy relaxation. You may prefer to head to the over sold Bondi or Coogee, where sharks are considered less of a threat than an overload of backpacking poms! The sand is as white as a ghost and it's all human skin. Until it rapidly fries red, turns brown, and begins to resemble the skin of the baked potato you had at lunch. Better still try Tamarama (or Glamourama as it's known). Remember … at least 15+ sunblock, we are delicate after all!

Cruising from suburb to suburb, Sydney changes faces more often than the sky changes its colour. A downpour of rain clears suddenly into bright blue skies. We have recently been thru a heatwave, but late this summer in particular, there are 3 things a Sydneysider carries. An umbrella, sunglasses and sunblock.

The Mardi Gras Parade, is the biggest night time parade in the Southern Hemisphere. There's nothing else like it. Oxford Street, Flinders Street, Moore Park Road and Driver Avenue shake and Sydney comes alive as the world gets turned upside down for one extraordinary queer night of passion, fun and pure sass. Join half a million of your closest friends on the streets of Sydney for the world's most famous celebration of gay and lesbian pride. Mardi Gras Parade 2001 is the public climax of our Festival celebrations and Australia's largest single outdoor event. It's wild, sexy and inspiring - it changes lives, and it's all yours! The Mardi Gras Parade is a unique event where politics and entertainment collide to produce a vital, sweaty and unforgettable statement of confidence, values and a place in Sydney. What will be the highlights this year? There's a millennium to look back on, cows sacred and secular to satirise and of course there was that five-ringed lycra-fest to parody. Let the fun and games begin.

Nothing is predictable. This city prides itself on the diversity of Australian multiculturalism. Don't be tempted by the 'norm' and that's exactly what you'll find. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, this city is for living. Enjoy the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and party safely.

Photos courtesy of the Australian Tourist Commission.

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Nic Senior & Trevor Sinclair
February 2001

Oh Savannah

Trevor Sinclair
June 2003

By Trevor Sinclair

My oh so patient partner and I arrived in Savannah after an extremely tedious drive from Atlanta. Trucks, eighteen-wheelers, trucks, trucks and more trucks. If I’d known more I would have flown. With ticket prices under $50 it’s gotta be worth it. The drive along the Interstate is very lush green and somewhat pretty, but it’s not as though there’s anywhere to stop, apart from finding the most wonderful fresh fruit in the small town of Dudley…somewhere off the freeway past Macon.

SYDNEY ... it's Mardi Gras Month

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