Hey everyone, miss me??
I’ve been laying low, enjoying some time off the social media during the school holidays. I’m back at it and ready to show you guys what I’ve been shooting.
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I better finish off my series of Sydney Olympic recaps with a one very memorable night. October 1st, the Closing Ceremony of the XXVII games and a few of us were lucky enough to get tickets.
<< Rewind to 6:00am the day of. As of this point only Mum and Dad were attending, and only in their official volunteer roles. Bec and I were just going to watch it on TV. But, that was all going to change as a bunch of tickets were yet to be sold (5,000 from memory). The Olympic organisers didn’t want any empty seats so they handed them out like candy to games volunteers. 6:01am at Olympic park and it was first in first served. Mum and Dad had scored two tickets each!! Bec, both of our grandma’s and I were off to the biggest party that evening!
What a night it was, I have never seen a whole stadium (let alone a whole city) buzz like it did that night. Once all the athletes had entered and the Athens handover formalities completed Juan Antonio Samaranch (the IOC head honcho) gave his address ''I am proud and happy to proclaim that you have presented to the world the best Olympic Games ever”. This sent the crowd into raptures and got the party pulsing. INXS, Jimmy Barnes, Kylie, Midnight Oil, Slim Dusty and the who’s who of Aussie talent belted out famous Down Under tunes that got everyone out of their seats singing and dancing. We laughed and cheered as wacky Mambo creatures roamed around; and a parade of Aussie Icons cruised by - Greg ‘Great White Shark’ Norman, Bananas in Pyjamas, Elle, Paul Hogan and Priscilla Queen of the Desert to name a few.
And for one final time we heard from Nikki Webster (or so we thought! Just google Strawberry Kisses lol) as a F1-11C fighter jet took off with the Olympic flame in a dump and burn maneuver at 500ft. It raced its way down the Parramatta River towards the bridge lighting up the most spectacular fireworks display you’d ever seen. Better than any NYE in my opinion. A crazy and incredible way for the games to conclude.
Those few weeks in September 2000 were the best and I had an absolute blast. I cannot thank my parents enough for making sure we experienced it in its entirety. We collected Olympic pins and memorabilia; we waved as the flame was run past us (a few times); we witnessed and cheered as great sporting achievements took place; we enjoyed the fabulous artistic performances in the ceremonies and saw what happened when a sea of volunteers took charge. Sydney shone brightly those few weeks 18 years ago and I won’t forget it.
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