They may have been 16,000 km from Donald Trump, but the billionaire's small band of Aussie supporters did their best to send their cheers all the way to Manhattan as news broke that he would be the next US president.
A crowd of about 100 Trump supporters were elated as the outspoken Republican was declared the winner shortly after 6.30pm AEDT, beating his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton in the race to the White House.
Dubbed Trump's Aussie Mates, the group erupted in cheers and chanted "Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump" as the Sydney event's organiser, former Liberal MP Ross Cameron, released red, blue and white helium balloons.
As they hugged and cheered, chants of "lock her up" rang out in reference to Mrs Clinton.
"I just want to say there were 1000 commentators out there who said it could not be done," Mr Cameron told the crowd.
"We are looking at one of the world's great outsiders.
"This is a victory for the citizens."
Former Liberal MP Bronwyn Bishop was among the crowd of mainly middle-aged white men who had been glued all day to a live feed of election coverage from Fox News in the US.
While the Rugby Club bar is a far cry from the billionaire's glamorous Trump Tower in New York, each time the outspoken presidential hopeful won a key state like Ohio they shouted and cheered so loud in case their hero could hear them in Manhattan.
Mrs Bishop, who joined the crowd around lunchtime, says America is in for a "shake up".
She has fond memories of meeting Mr Trump in Washington when George W Bush Snr was being inaugurated as president.
"He was a perfectly reasonable, sensible human being," she told AAP.
Mrs Bishop likened Mr Trump's critics to those of Bush's predecessor Ronald Reagan when he ran for president.
"Initially they threw a lot of mud at him but he turned out to be a wonderful and much loved president," she said.
The mood was much more dour a stone's throw away at the more upmarket Morrison bar, where hundreds of Mrs Clinton's supporters had spent the day.
When they began cramming into the bar before lunchtime, the mood was hopeful, and even celebratory.
As the day wore on and Mr Trump pushed into the lead the mood began to sour amid the American fries, chilli dogs and beer on offer.
Dual American-Australia citizen Catherine Weinress was upset as she watched Mr Trump gain more and more ground.
"I'm distressed that there are this many Americans who can look past his (Trump's) misogyny and racism."
Many of Mrs Clinton's supporters at the Democrats Abroad event struggled to make sense of a Trump victory.
"It's not even real. This isn't actually happening. This is a nightmare," Virginia expat Veronica Eulate told AAP.
"(We're) beyond shellshocked, gutted."
