Taylor Swift‘s Aussie era has come and gone, leaving us with only the memories and friendship bracelets we’ve made along the way.
The American pop star took her seventh and final bow on our sunny shores last night after performing three Eras Tour shows in Melbourne and four in Sydney.
The 3.5-hour shows well and truly exceeded fans’ expectations, with thousands around the country now enduring a rough come-down.
To make the transition to a post-Swift world a little easier, let’s look back at the highlights of her time Down Under.
READ MORE: ‘Six things that surprised me at Taylor Swift’s first Sydney show’
Melbourne’s record-breaking crowd
After witnessing the chaos of last year’s ticket sales – and all subsequent ticket releases – we knew the Aussie Eras shows would be huge.
But we couldn’t have possibly predicted they would go down in Swiftstory.
Taking the stage on the first night in Melbourne, the singer admitted she was “fully starstruck” by the sight of almost 100,000 faces inside the MCG.
”If I seem a little bit like I’m losing my mind over the fact that there are 96,000 people here tonight … it’s because it’s true,” she told the crowd.
READ MORE: Taylor Swift just made five-year-old Lily’s dreams come true
“This is the biggest show that we’ve ever done.”
It turned out to be a hattrick for Swift – how fitting for a venue usually associated with cricket – as all three Melbourne shows attracted 96,000 fans.
‘The most glorious sound’
You might be aware we Aussies have copped stick for in recent years over how we say “no”, with “naur” becoming the universal reference for our pronunciation of the word.
During the second Sydney show, Swift took this to all new levels as she introduced her first surprise song of the night.
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”Obviously you know we love your accents, but I have a very specific word that is my favourite word you say, and that word is the word ‘naur’,” she said as the crowd laughed knowingly.
“The most glorious sound, the more you chew on that naur … I really think you say it better than I say it.”
In honour of the word, Swift performed her 2006 track You Should’ve Said No, issuing fans with a choice: “You can sing it American like me if you want, or you can just be yourselves and you can say You Should’ve Said Naur.“
Tortured Poet reveals and a surprise song shake-up
While in Australia, Swift dropped some crumbs about her upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department.
At one show in each city, the Grammy winner unveiled special-edition alternative covers for the album, due for release in April.
Swift also gave her surprise song tradition a major shakeup while in Australia, to the shock (and in many cases, horror) of fans around the world.
READ MORE: Everything we know about Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department
She declared an end to the original rule that she’d never repeat a track throughout the Eras tour, and began performing ‘mashups’ of multiple songs, something she hasn’t done elsewhere.
These major new developments have caused some consternation among fans overseas, prompting accusations Australia is Swift’s “favourite child”.
“Does Taylor owe Australia money or something wtf is this,” one particularly incredulous fan demanded.
Sydney Zoo’s #1 fan
Ahead of her second round of Aussie shows, Swift visited Sydney Zoo in Blacktown – then came back the very next day with boyfriend Travis Kelce in tow.
Many were baffled, questioning why she’d return to the same spot within hours. Turns out… she just really loved the zoo.
Swift and support act Sabrina Carpenter joked about the situation on stage in Sydney.
”We were talking … one of the times we were at the zoo, we really love Sydney Zoo,” she said during the Friday show.
READ MORE: Swift’s gruelling preparation for Eras Tour shows almost derailed romance
“We’ve been [on] 100 per cent of our days off here,” she added, prompting Carpenter to throw her head back laughing.
While the Feather singer declared, “We’re big koala guys”, Swift had her eye on other animals.
“I’m really all about the red panda, and I think you guys don’t understand how cool kangaroos are,” she said.
‘Tell him he’s dreamin”
There’s no doubt Swift is someone who does her homework, and nowhere was this more obvious than in her performance of one particular song during each show.
The singer adapts the spoken bridge of We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together for each Eras tour location, substituting the line “like, ever” – delivered by her dancer, Kam – with a local reference or catchphrase.
She really committed in Australia, starting off strong with “yeah, nah” and evolving to “bugger off”, “rack off, mate” and, at the pinnacle, “tell him he’s dreamin'” – a classic quote from The Castle.
Sydney (Travis’ Version)
Not to reignite an age-old rivalry, but Sydney did have a slight advantage in hosting Travis Kelce for his one and only Eras Tour appearance Down Under.
The NFL star arrived in the Harbour City on Thursday, enjoying some downtime with Swift – including the zoo visit and a late-night boat trip – and attending the first show.
Videos shows Kelce having a ball in the VIP tent alongside Katy Perry, Rita Ora and Taika Waititi, and handing out guitar picks to some lucky fans.
Swift also gave her beau a shoutout while performing Karma, adapting the lyric “karma is the guy on the screen” to “the guy on the Chiefs” in a nod to his team, the Kansas City Chiefs.
A Bad Blood cameo
Plenty of big names attended the Aussie shows, but Sydney night one saw none other than Katy Perry waltz into the VIP tent.
When Swift performed Bad Blood, fans eager for some tea quickly turned their gaze to the Firework singer to see how she reacted.
The 2014 diss track is widely believed to have been inspired by Swift’s years-long feud with Perry, though she’s never directly confirmed this.
Perry took it all in stride, documenting her own reaction – a briefly shocked expression before she sang along – in an Instagram video.
Making dreams come true, one hat at a time
Across her shows here, Swift made the ultimate dream of seven fans a reality.
In an Eras Tour tradition, the singer greets one lucky fan at the edge of her stage per show while singing 22, presenting them with the black hat she wears during the performance.
In Australia, the 22 hat has created some truly heartwarming scenes.
Its recipients have included Scarlett, a nine-year-old Perth girl with a rare brain tumour and who has been given only months to live; and five-year-old Lily, who rose to online fame last year with an adorable school speech about her admiration for Swift.
A true Sydney local
And finally, Swift sealed her “honourary Sydneysider” credentials by waltzing into one of the city’s buzziest restaurants.
With Carpenter at her side, the singer enjoyed dinner at Italian restaurant Pellegrino 2000, a Surry Hills venue that’s received plenty of acclaim since it opened in 2022.
There’s just one problem with Swift’s very casual local date night, however.
As one widely-circulated post online lamented, landing a reservation at Pellegrino 2000 was already a challenge – and is sure to be even more so now.