This weekend found me escaping on an adventure to Sydney. Ever since I was in high school I wanted to experience the fabulousness that becomes Oxford Street, year after year for the celebration of the Marti Gras Parade in Sydney. This year after over a decade of dreaming, my best friend East and I finally got there and it couldn't have met my expectations any more than it did.
After an expensive taxi ride with an inexperienced driver in the chaotic Sydney traffic, we arrived to our hotel an hour prior to check in. After they took a $20 key deposit we were introduced to budget backpacker accommodation to its fullest, complete with unmade beds, lack of air con, and a communal bathroom and toilets. We took a blocky so that the house keepers of The George Street Hotel could attend to making our room presentable. I felt a little embarrassed that I had picked the hotel, with it's appeal being extremely affordable and in the general vicinity of the street to be on! Surprisingly the room radically improved with simple comforts as little as made beds and fresh towels. My highlight of the room was that we had our own window with a view. It was a charming sight of an old style brick wall belonging to neighbouring buildings and a rickety old tin roof, but a view none the less.
After an early dinner we arrived a good three hours before the parade actually begun to secure our spots along the front fence line so we wouldn't miss a moment of the experience. The event was pumping way before the floats made their appearance with team members hyping up the crowd in anticipation of the fun to really begin.
Entire streets were blocked off with the help of police officers as thousands of people lined the sidewalks of Oxford St to watch as fantastic dance beats screamed from speakers of floats with countless out and proud people feeling the music and expressing their sexuality openly with a justified sense of pride on and around the extravagantly made floats. Groups of people hung the pride flag from their balconies as others sold them to spectators on the street. There was countless rainbow flags, crazy and colourful outfits, stunning drag queens, a celebration of same sex love and a mind blowing parade that tied them all together.
There was something for everyone: dykes on bikes, drag queens, mermaids, marching
bands, nuns, superheroes, leather daddies, lifesavers, fairies, go go dancers, federal police, navy, army, airforce, Delta Goodrem and to our pleasant surprise even an appearance of the ever so nerdy DR WHO and Star Trek fans out there, one of which was standing right beside me. I got an elbow to the arm that almost led to me poking out my own eye! We watched on as giant pink daleks passed us by with signs reading, "Exterminate Homophobia!" It was nice to see the same excitement on Easts face as I got from drag queens or same sex couples outwardly being free to express their love for one another without judgement.
After hours of standing on our feet unable to move (thanks to an ever so considerate mother pushing her daughter in between us even though she had lacked the patience to arrive early for good viewing) it didn't stop me from smiling like a Cheshire Cat at such an overwhelming display of equality. Unlike my legs, my camera gave up on me well before the parade was over. Disappointing our inner party animals that enjoy a nice glass of rum and coke and a side of floor shaking music, we got some refreshments and retreated our tired selves back to our hotel. Even our eyes were tired from ogling at the gorgeous men of Sydney who made wearing contacts from 4:30am well worth it. There's some things a girl just can't not notice.
Sunday found us at China Town, Darling Harbour, Tumbalong Park, Chinese Garden of Friendship and a free bus ride later, at Circular Quay. After taking in the spectacular view of the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge we enjoyed a nice lunch and had iced coffees as we watched the gentlemen pull out their umbrellas to guard their girls from the rain as the seagulls enjoyed showering in it. Such a small gesture that reminded me there was still romance in the world and that maybe chivalry wasn't completely dead and to my surprise, even that it could still possibly be just around the corner.
We managed to successfully use the train transportation to get ourselves back to the airport. Krispy Kreme and Boost Juice made the wait for our flight back to Cairns more bearable. I sit here now ignoring the slight rocking motion of the aircraft 30,000 feet up in the air and I look back on the entire trip as a wonderful confirmation that love is still very much the heart of life and that gay or straight, you owe it to yourself to open up to it completely. Even if you've been unfortunate enough to have been hurt in the past, or have people looking down on you for being guilty of nothing more then being true to yourself. If you are yet to find the love that lights your life, or the courage to pursue it, one guarantee is that no matter who you are or what your differences, you are worthy of it.
I hope you all had an extremely Happy 2014 Marti Gras and that the sense of pride and freedom to be yourself doesn't just wash over you for the duration of the parade and Marti Gras celebrations, but ideally that it lasts you a lifetime.
