Wait(ed) For It

For Kobe's birthday back in June I gave him tickets to see Hamilton in Sydney.  Unfortunately we had to cancel the trip twice because of Covid/travel restrictions back in July and October. We were so disappointed as both of us were looking forward to seeing it.  I gave up thinking we would get to Sydney to see it, as it finishes in Sydney in February and moves to Melbourne. 

The borders to and from Tasmania finally opened up on December 15th but I still wasn't keen on travelling.  There is so much Covid in Sydney and I was worried about getting it, plus you had to be tested for covid before flying back (and people were waiting 6 hours or more in lines to be tested).

The travel rules then changed again and we no longer had to be tested before travelling back to Tasmania (unless we had symptoms) so I started to get that feeling again that I wanted to book tickets to Sydney.  I follow Hamiton Australia on social media and saw that the show was cancelled for over a week because a lot of the cast had Covid, so it reminded me again that we could book tickets and still be very disappointed all over again.  

One night I was in bed and just kept thinking about how much I wanted to surprise Kobe and just go. I didn't want to leave it till the last week of the holidays as I didn't want to go back to school feeling tired and was worried I'd get Covid and have to isolate just before school went back. 

I woke up the next morning and started to look at flights over the next few days. I talked to Jay and Harri about it and both of them had plans over the weekend that they didn't want to cancel, and both said they were worried about getting Covid and didn't want to have to isolate when they got back.  They both said they were happy for me to go without them, so I went online and saw there was a flight that afternoon and decided that the risk was worth the reward. 

I booked flights for that day and the tickets to Hamilton for the next day, and rang my brother Chrish to see if he could pick us up at the airport. Then I told Kobe to go and pack his bag.  He kept saying 'I know you're joking!' and Jay said to him 'no she's not...go and pack your bag' and Kobe said to him 'why aren't you packing your bag!?'. 

I could tell he was thinking it may be real, but didn't want to be disappointed if I was joking, and I told him I wasn't joking and that we were catching a flight at 4:40 pm (it was noon at the time!). He got very excited until he realised that boys weren't coming with us, and was then really disappointed as he was so keen on having a fun family holiday in Sydney together. 

When he heard the reasons that they weren't coming and I reminded him it was his birthday present, he started to get excited again and packed his bag very quickly. I couldn't believe that I had decided that morning to go and that we were on a plane 5 hours later! It's the only way I knew that we could get to see Hamilton without it being cancelled on us. 

We were very excited when we got off the plane in Sydney.

Chrish picked us up and when we got to his house Kobe was excited to go for a ride in his Triumph which he had bought during the last year. 

Kobe was so excited to see Chrish's dog Tess. 

We were seeing Hamilton on Friday night and Chrish had to work that day, so we headed into the city on our own early as we know our way around easily on public transport. We realised we hadn't been to Sydney for three years! We went to Circular Quay first and couldn't believe how quiet it was. There was hardly anyone around. 

We caught a ferry from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour which was very cool as it went under the Harbour Bridge, and it also stopped at Luna Park. 

We had lots of time to fill in before Hamilton so we walked around Darling Harbour and got lunch (and couldn't believe how quiet it also was there and how many shops were shut!). 

After we had lunch we went to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.  We have been there a couple of times before but knew there were some new wax figures and it's always lots of fun.  There were literally two other people in there with us while we were walking through, and then a family of three at the end. It was eerily strange seeing Sydney so quiet as it's usually bustling with people. 

It was only another $19 to buy a two attraction pass, so I paid the extra money and we used it to go into the Sydney Tower as Kobe had never been there before. Unfortunately the weather turned bad as we were heading there, so it was rainy and foggy by the time we got up to the top. 

We were surprised that the weather was hotter back at home in Tassie, as it's always so hot when we go to Sydney. We walked back to Darling Harbour (and were both so tired by this point!) and went to the Star to get tea before watching Hamilton.   

It was so exciting to finally see the Lyric Theatre in person. 

We had tea and then couldn't wait for the doors to open.  

We were the first ones in the theatre! I ended up buying the cheapest tickets which were $70 each and were right up the back row, but the view was still so good.  We had some older ladies come and sit next to us and they cracked me up as one of them said 'so what's this about?' The other one replied 'oh you know, that American guy named.....' (couldn't remember it!) and then the other one laughed and said 'Hamilton!' and they both laughed. Then they started googling about Alexander Hamilton and what he did.  The theatre wasn't full so the people sitting next to use all moved along, so we had heaps of space around us which was great. 

We absolutely loved Hamilton and I loved our view from the top. It was incredible to watch all the stage work and lighting and we were amazed at how much more we picked up because you could see everything going on, on the stage. We love watching Hamilton on Disney but it is nothing compared to watching it live.  We were on a high all night and would absolutely love to go again (maybe in Melbourne). 

We caught the train back to Chrish's and didn't get back till around 1:00 am. 

Chrish didn't have to work on Saturday, so we decided to go to the 'new' Sydney Zoo in western Sydney.  It was quite cheap to go and although it was quite a small zoo, we were very impressed with it. 

It looks lovely and was set out really well.  

I was surprised that it was busy, as everywhere else in Sydney was so quiet. 

Kobe asked Chrish if he'd take us to Taco Bell for lunch as we don't have it in Tassie. 

Then it was my turn to go for a drive in the Triumph. 

After tea we went to Aqua Golf which is always heaps of fun even though Kobe and I are terrible at it. 

The first Krispy Kreme store that opened in Australia is near Aqua Golf, so we had to call in there to grab a treat (as we also don't have Krispy Kreme in Tassie). 

We flew back home the next day, but not until after lunch so we went to Botany Bay for a quick look and also Little Bay which was beautiful. I was wishing so much I could go for a swim but we had to catch the plane. 

We fitted about a weeks worth of activities into three days and had a lovely time, but I was so tired when when we got home. I was glad that I didn't do it at the end of the holidays.  

Out of ten places that we checked into, I got six alerts that there were Covid cases where we had been.  Luckily for us we are still Covid free and the risk was definitely worth the reward, even though we had to wait for it for so long. 

Thanks Chrish for letting us come and stay at such short notice and for always showing us a good time when we are with you. I promise to give you more warning that we are coming next time! :)