Sydney: Coming Out View

Sydney, home to thronging public beaches, overflowing bars and a lively, open-minded nightlife is full of impressive landmarks – but the real joy to discovering the city is becoming integrated with the culture, the people and the city’s infectious joie de vivre.

One important aspect of Sydney’s culture is its huge gay population: it is home to a massive number of gay and lesbian clubs and bars, the legendary Mardi Gras festival, as well as the annual Gay Games. So what better way to learn about this cosmopolitan haven than aboard the So what better way to learn about this cosmopolitan haven than aboard the Tour by Diva bus with a white stiletto-booted drag queen offering her refreshingly bitchy yet informed take on the city’s prized showpieces.

Following the closure of the Albery theatre, a popular drag venue that has since been turned into a block of flats, a team of four drag queens and local lad Matt Needham concocted a winning formula. Three days a week they take it in turns to guide locals, visitors and even corporate business events on a three-hour tour with a variety of wig-wearing, ABBA-singing entertainment en route.

There may be a propensity to write this tour off as a bit of a Priscilla Queen of the Desert-wannabe drag show on wheels, but in fact the girls have done their homework – Cleo constantly surprised us with fascinating facts and trivia.
The tour kicks off at the Oxford Hotel, a seen-it-all-and-got-the-T-shirt kind of bar (predominantly gay but very female friendly) that lurks at the far end of Oxford Street, a superb shopping street for fashionable designer outlets, trendy cafes and bars, and the main stomping ground for the Mardi Gras in February.
Giving Cleo extra scope to hurl catty comments at those who take the cheaper option, the tour bus is divided into first-class and economy by a curtain of pink gauze, and dependent on how much you dole out, passengers pass around either smoked salmon nibbles or a box of Cheezels!

Drag names were stuck to our chests, champagne handed round (in plastic glasses if you sat behind the curtain), and we were instructed to don our big-haired wigs. Still smirking at one another’s drag names (mine was Barb – and although I was bearing the brunt of Cleo’s pert remarks with the rest of the economy class – I was actually very much enjoying the Cheezles), we
headed towards Circular Quay.

A must-see spot for any visitor, Circular Quay is home to the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House, the Botanic Gardens (head there early, advised Cleo, to spot the hunky joggers!), a ferry terminal and a number of expensive eateries and boutique shops. Tours around the backstage of the Opera House are very popular, as is the climb over the Harbour Bridge – although you do need to be quite fit, and the Botanic Gardens are so beautiful that newlyweds can often be spotted having wedding photos taken around the grounds.

The sight of a gaggle of wig-wearing tourists skipping behind a drag queen proudly holding up a flag (just in case we lost her) and flouncing through the crowds to the front of the Opera House certainly caused a stir, and it wasn’t long before we were the attraction; Cleo obviously revelling in the attention, happily posing for photos beside her wigged harem.

Back on the bus and off to Bondi beach – the epitome of the outdoors living that Sydney is most famous for – a golden-sanded stretch home to many slender frames, lounging, strolling or catching a wave in the foaming surf. A pleasant way to fill a day-trip to Bondi is the coastal walk around the headland that leads you to Coogee Beach – another favourite sunbathing spot – and the location for the annual ‘Sculpture by the Sea’ exhibition, which features impressive and eccentric art installations from local and international artists.

Bondi is also home to a weekend market – an ideal place to pick up some surf-bum wear, and a great collection of restaurants – most notably Iceberg, a five-star dining experience with all the trimmings – as well as a million-dollar (Australian) view across the bay. We disembarked by the seafront, and much to the sun-kissed onlookers delight, took part in a couple of very silly contests that involved balloons and near-hysterical giggling.

Back on to the bus for a sing-along (luckily everyone knew their ABBA lyrics otherwise there may well have been a scene) and into the Imperial Pub (of Priscilla fame) on the Erskineville Rd. Bellowing along to Dancing Queen, we were shocked to be told that a coach-load of 70 year-olds had taken this tour the
week before, and our volume levels just weren’t coming close to their impressive vocals.

Cleo then held the floor with a show stopping number and a speedy costume change (a map-of-Sydney print mini-dress with fabulously 80s padded shoulders), before we wound our way back through the suburbs to our drop-off point. The Australian Coat of Arms, Cleo pointed out to us, features the Emu and the Kangaroo. The choice of these particular animals was not just that they are native to the country, but also that neither is physically able to walk backwards – they, like Australia itself, could only move forwards.

This fact seemed strangely appropriate in such a forward thinking, multi-cultured, hedonistic city like Sydney – why would you want anyone other than a gorgeously dressed drag queen giving you a guided tour?

By Sarah Myers

Courtesy of lifestyleandtravel.com