Sydney, Australia has to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. As we pull into the harbor I step onto our balcony and the views are amazing. We are docked right next to the Sydney Harbor Bridge. What an amazing sight. Now I am getting very excited to climb that monster!
We head upstairs for breakfast about 7:45 am and then meet the rest of the group in the Wheelhouse Bar to disembark the ship. I now have Mike’s cold and can’t breathe either. I hope the altitude of the bridge doesn’t make our heads explode. Getting off the ship was pretty well organized and we were able to get our luggage and get onto our tour bus in about 45 minutes.
We met with our tour guide and off we went on a city tour of Sydney. We drove through “The Rocks” area, down Oxford Street (the longest street in Australia), by Garrison Church (the oldest church in Sydney), by the Botanic Gardens (which has over 4,000 types of plants), and then we took a 20 minute hike up a path to see amazing views of the bay. We then headed onto Bondi Beach…..Bondi means “Crashing Waves”….and we got an ice-cream cone. We saw where Russell Crowe lives and saw a house that Nicole Kidman used to own (it looked like a cement wall)! We learned a lot of history and about this convict named Francis Morgan. They started shipping the convicts to Sydney in the 1840’s and there were about 116 of them. They would keep some underground and use them as ship workers. They also used them to dig out roads and tunnels through rock by hand. Francis Morgan was a 2 time offender and committed his second offense in Sydney. So, as an example of why you don’t want to commit a crime in Sydney, they took him out to a small area near the bay and hung him and left him there for 3 years. About 6/10th of the population still are migrants and 2% aborigines. The average age here in Sydney is 35 years old (I found that to be amazing). The population is about 4.5 million and our tour guide told us that they have proof that 60,000 years ago is when the aborigines came to live here.
We drove to a beautiful photo spot of the city from across the bay to a park where Mrs. Macquarie used to watch fishermen come in to shore from a special chair (cement slab) that her husband had made for her by the convicts. He also had a road built around the park so that she could take carriage rides.
We drove through a very expensive area of Sydney where there is a home for sale for $60 million. Apparently Bill Gates is staying there right now! 30% of the children go to private schools ($30k/yr) and ($60k/yr) for boarding schools. There are 80 golf courses and most you can play 9 holes for $15.
It’s about 1:30 pm now and we are going to check into the Park Royal Darling Harbor Hotel. It is a nice hotel and faces the harbor. Everywhere in Sydney has amazing views and I can tell right now that we need another week here to check it all out. Our room is really nice and contemporary.
We are tired and our colds are kicking us in the butt but we have things to do. So, Mike and I decide to walk along the harbor down to the Sydney Harbor Bridge. By this time it is about 2:00 pm and we want to see where we have to check in for the climb. We walked about ½ hour to get there through the city. I can’t explain the excitement and vibes you get just walking around here……it is such an amazing city. Since it is Saturday, people are everywhere. There having Dragon Boat Races in the harbor, people at every café and bar, people up on the bridge, sailboats and ferry’s all over the bay, helicopters rides and people out walking their dogs………it is AMAZING! I want to live here. J
We find the check in spot and decide to explore more since we still have about 2 hours before we officially have to check in. We are doing the climb with Jim & Diane Chesler, and Gregg & Linda Common. The signed up after talking to us today! We will all be on the same climb so it is going to be fun. Mike and I walked through a street fair and ran into them…..we also found out way to the Original Lord Nelson’s Pub (Oldest Pub in Sydney 1941) and ran into the Yeary’s and Lancon’s. The pub is really cool with pictures from the past, a full bar with porcelain taps. Mike buys a t-shirt and we have to move on…..we couldn’t drink yet because they will be using a Breathalyzer on us before the climb.
At 4:30 pm we meet up with the Chesler’s and Common’s and check in. The excitement is building!
First we meet with an instructor who has us fill out a release form, does the Breathalyzer test and brings us into another room to change. They give us a one piece suit to wear and a hat (if you want). They give us hair ties, a handkerchief to put around our wrist, straps to hold our sunglasses on and a radio with headphones. We go into another room where we are given a waist belt to hold all of these items. It has clamps that we clip onto a cable as we walk/climb. Here we go!
The first part of the climb is under the bridge……we have a thin rail on both sides of us to hold onto and the walking path changes from solid to see through as we go. Higher and higher, step by step, breathe by breathe we learn about the building process of the bridge and get to see unbelievable views. I am having a minor fit about not being able to bring my camera! As we get to the top of the bridge our guide, Mike, takes a bunch of pictures of us. This was an experience that we will never forget and we are definitely glad we were able to do it. We climbed 1,390 stairs!
Some stats of the bridge: Height (134m), Length (1,149m), Stairs (1,390), Steel (52,800 tons), and 6 million rivets with a 360 degree view. BREATHTAKING!
After the climb the 6 of us walked to meet everyone else at the Waterfront Restaurant for dinner. This restaurant is on the harbor and faces the bridge and opera house. The dinner was great and while we were eating the Diamond Princess was pulling out headed for Hong Kong. It was an amazing site as it was getting dark and the ship was all lit up. With the Opera House and Bridge in the background I had to jump up and run out to take more pictures! Our bus picked us up after dinner and we all collapsed into bed around 11:00 pm.
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