除夕NYE'08倒數
The following story is a harrowing tale of a person's plight around Sydney on new years eve. You have been warned that this is an unusually long blog post.
BAD 1
I caught the train from Kogarah as usual, and decided that maybe I might change at Wolli Creek for the connecting service to St James. Unfortunately, the plan backfired and I had to wait 15mins for the next train. That was after realising that it would have been faster just changing at Town Hall anyway. The result was that I got to St James station 15mins late.
GOOD 1
Upon crossing the road from Hyde Park to Macquarie Street, I faintly heard over the music in my earphones someone call my name. It was Donna and Newton, who had come to visit before heading to their own party. Donna said that she had called so many times she was worried it was in fact that wrong person. What a coincidence.
BAD 2
So the trio of Donna, Newton and myself proceeded up Art Gallery Road towards Mrs Macquarie's Chair trying to catch up to Ivan and clan who were half a street ahead. We saw ahead that there were gates and barricades restricting access and checking for alcohol and other prohibited items. We queued. Slowly, people were being let through and shown to tables for searches to be conducted. Slowly slowly people were directed. However, that suddenly came to a halt and the queue stopped. Then a security guard announced that the venue was now closed and that they would not be allowing anymore people in for the duration of the night. The time was 1705. We were directed to go towards Circular Quay to find other vantage points. I consulted my map and it indicated that the majority of Circular Quay was restricted access. In horror, we asked them to let us through. They refused. We begged them to let 1 of us through and they refused. Other people asked and were refused. In desperation we contacted Ivan and told him to stay inside while he could while we make a dash for other possible venues.
GOOD 2
Donna made a call to her friend staked out at Milsons Point and finds out that there is space there. Hurrah. Then I discovered the friend was in fact my primary school friend I hadn't seen in years. Hurrah2. We scampered from the Botanical Gardens across the city to Wynyard station before departing for Milson's Point.
BAD 3
I now understand how revolting a portaloo can get and why people would hold for hours just to avoid it. There was an enticing line of 25 at Milson's Point.
GOOD 3
I was able to score a pass to get into the cordoned area where Donna and Newton's gang was. So we departed Milson's Point and headed for McMahons Point. The time was now 2000.
BAD 4
We were met with yet another barricade at Blues Point Road similar to the ones at APEC. We rushed up to the fence as any prisoner would and asked the police officers to release us. They wouldn't if there was no accompanying certification that we 'lived' there. Ours lives depended on the production of this pass which was not in our hands. So we waited at the Sydney equivalent of the Berlin wall, or the Villawood detention centre, so named because there was manic emotion on both sides of the wall as couples, families, children and friends were torn apart by this symbol of police might and brutality. There was screaming and wailing as the crowd some 10 person deep held onto the gate with desperation. At the checkpoints on either side and in the middle, lucky individuals on the other side of the fence came to recognise family and friends before the gate was slowly opened and they were allowed through. It was a harrowing sight never seen before in Sydney, almost as pitiful and hurtful as when we chose teams to play games in primary school and you had missed out or was snobbed. The fate of those on the wrong side lay with those on the right side claiming you to be their friend. It was just wrong. You would see person after person let through because they were chosen, as if it was some trait about them that you did not have warranting their release. Such cruelty.
After a harrowing 20minute wait for our friend to come identify us and release us from Villawood on Blues Point Road, he arrived. It was such bad luck. Only 10 seconds prior to that, the police who had now arrived on the freedom side in their riot cars had just loudly announced on the speakers above their vehicle that no further people were allowed through the fence until 2130. This blanket closure also excluded residents from getting through as well. This brought the crowd into total disrepute, and the trio of us and the friend on the other side begged the police at the checkpoints to let us through. We argued that he had arrived before the announcement, and that we shouldn't be detained because we too were residents (we now had passes in our possession). After much heated tussle and desperate attempts, it was in vain. The time was now 2035.
GOOD 5
We ended up retreating back down the road to find a vantage point for the 9o'clock fireworks and found a clearing away from houses and trees of 20m in width. There were about 100 people also here to witness the fireworks. The 2100 fireworks were good but not breathtaking.
GOOD 5
We walked back to the fence to escape from Villawood on Blues Point Road, and approaching 2130 the crowd was getting larger and larger reaching some 30 deep. There was also another barricade erected on the other side holding those people back as well with a no-man's land in between. Having seen this, we decided to use an alternative road, which too was barricaded but not crowded at all to get in. It was smooth sailing and we were allowed in with our passes. Mr Sir asked us if the Villawood on Blues Point Road gate was opened, and we said no. From there on it was a nice walk to our friend's place.
BAD 5
The phone network for Vodafone died between 2340 to 0040, but it only responded with light breathing after that time. People were left stranded without communication during this time.
GOOD 6
The fireworks at midnight was totally awesome and the television coverage did not give the spectacle justice.
benny | Wednesday, January 02, 2008 
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