Christmas will be here before we know it! This week’s Feel-Good Friday has us eagerly anticipating another festive season, as we try to figure out what to drink on the big day, where we might grab a pub meal the night before, and how we’re going to pay for it all when the bill comes. Where’s Santa when you need him?
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Darling Harbour’s Christmas Carnival Transformation
If you’re finding Mariah Carey and Michael “the Bubes” Bublé just aren’t doing it for you this year, it might be a sign you’re in need of a Christmas-spirit injection, stat! Fortunately, we have the solution: swing by Darling Harbour and you’ll find “a wonderland of joy, dance, and dazzling lights”.
From now until the big bloke in red pays us all a visit, Darling Harbour will be decked out in more Christmas decorations than you shake a candy cane at, all of which will be illuminated by spectacular Christmas-themed fireworks on Friday and Saturday nights. Plus, on December 2nd you’ll have the chance to create your own Christmas wreath at the Festive Floral Wreath-Making Workshop, located the Chinese Garden of Friendship.
Finally, once you’ve had your fill of the Christmas festivities and have reinvigorated your love for Mariah and Michael, why not drop by Darling Harbour’s Pixar Putt Mini-Golf to show off your putting skills?
Sample a Barossa Christmas With Château Tanunda
For red wine lovers, nothing goes with Christmas lunch quite like a good Shiraz. But with so many out there it can be hard to find the right one. With that in mind, it’s just as well that the Sydney Cellar Door of Château Tanunda—”Icon of the Barossa”—is offering us all the opportunity to find the perfect bottle to crack open this festive season with its Barossa Cave de Shiraz tasting experience.
From December 1st, Shiraz enthusiasts can make their way through the iconic sandstone alleyways of The Rocks to 2 Nurses Walk, where they’ll find Château Tanunda’s Sydney Cellar Door serving up self-guided tastings, starting with a glass of sparkling shiraz followed by five other delicious shiraz variants.
The festivities continue into the new year too, with the tasting experience continuing until January 31st. Best of all, the tasting experience will set you back just AUD$40. Book your Barossa Cave de Shiraz tasting experience below.
The Parking Fine We’d Love to Receive
There are few things worse than watching a parking warden slowly amble away from your car, paper peeking out from under one of your wipers and a self-satisfied smirk plastered on the warden’s face. When you consider that Aussies spend $600 million a year on parking fines, well, it’s enough to make you want to blame the entire cost of living crisis in the lead up to Christmas on our high-vis-clad “friends”.
To counter this, comedian Joel Creasey hit the streets of Sydney this week to make the days of some struggling Aussies. On behalf of Cashrewards, Creasey dressed up as a ‘Cash Re-warden’—geddit?—and commenced placing envelopes under the wipers of cars left and right, much to the horror of motorists returning to their vehicles.
However, in the place of what they assumed to be a hefty fine, they discovered AUD$270 in cold, hard cash – the average amount Cashrewards’ claims its most engaged users earned last year through the site. Just what the doctor ordered in the lead up to Christmas! In total, Creasey handed out AUD$7,020, which couldn’t have come at a better time for the Aussie battlers lucky enough to do a potentially dodgy park just as he happened to pass by.
A Local Favourite Reimagined
For those who remember Gilroy’s Hotel—located in Sydney’s St Leonards—with its strange but endearing thigh-high bar and slightly shabby furnishings, it’s had quite the glow up and is welcoming locals back from this week onwards. Now going by the moniker ‘The Belroy Hotel’, it’s undergone a major renovation that’s seen it double in size without losing that classic community corner pub atmosphere.
The reinvigorated venue now features a classic sports bar on the ground floor, making it the perfect destination for those looking to enjoy all the big games while savouring a range of classic pub grub and tap beers from Sydney’s favourite breweries. Upstairs you’ll find what the owners describe as “an urban oasis,” offering an open and airy conservatory-style space that’s flooded with natural light – an ideal place to watch the sun go down on a summer evening.
If you’re located north of the bridge, The Belroy Hotel might just enter the running as your new favourite local. Plus, it’s conveniently located by St Leonards station, so it’s easy to get home responsibly after some Christmas Eve bevvies.
Uber Reveals the Secret to Improved Life Satisfaction
Once Christmas is out of the way, we’re all going to be looking for New Year’s resolutions that’ll ensure our lives are better in 2024 than they were in 2023. Curiously, Uber may have an answer. Following its ‘One Less Car’ social experiment, the rideshare giant’s data revealed that when Aussie participants ditched the car and went on foot, they enjoyed a one per cent increase in life satisfaction for every thousand steps taken.
We love our cars here at Man of Many, but with Uber’s experiment also revealing that operating and maintaining a car is more expensive than we Aussies realise, 2024 might be a good time to save money and enjoy a boost in life satisfaction by leaving the car at home (if not getting rid of it altogether). As Uber will be the first to tell you, you can always order a ride when your feet get tired.
The Shoey You’ll Actually Want to Taste
We can all agree that shoeys are gross, right? Unless, of course, they happen to be both enormous in size and of the chocolate and peanut butter variety. With that in mind, Reese’s (master of the peanut butter cup) has something special for all the Bondi bums this weekend: the installation of a four-metre-high chocolate shoe pouring ‘peanut butter’ into a giant Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup overlooking Bondi Beach.
Those heading down to snap a selfie with the massive shoey will also find Reese’s giving away 20,000 delicious Peanut Butter Cups to be enjoyed as you look out over the waves. Just remember to take your rubbish with you. Let’s keep Bondi beautiful, people.
