Bridge Climb

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We’ve been very busy since the last blog, we must have walked a marathon in the last few days.
After our lazy morning on Sunday we set off into Sydney and headed towards the Botanical Gardens. The sun was out in full force so we did some sun bathing on the grass then headed to the Andrew Charlton swimming pool which is on the right hand side of the gardens on Woolloomooloo Bay for a look. We didn’t go in as it looked to be more suited to serious lane swimmers but we bought some drinks from the cafe and sat on a hill admiring the view. Then we continued our walk up to Mrs Macquarie’s Point and took some pictures round there then followed the harbour round to the other side of the gardens near the Opera House. Then we walked back to our hotel and stopped off at a tapas place called La Tapa Guava where we got chorizo in red wine, garlic mushrooms and chicken croquets. Oli went to get the drinks and came back with 2 waters, an orange juice, a pint and a jug of Sangria...all for two people. Oli was very thirsty and ended up drinking all the drinks bar the orange juice. We also had a scarily efficient waitress who took away the dishes the moment we took the last mouthful off the plate (often before we’d actually eaten it). Then we had an early night as we had to be up at 6 for our Blue Mountains tour.
We woke up early on Monday to cook breakfast before our Blue Mountain tour picked us up at 7:40. We had booked with Activity Tours as we had heard good things about them from Trip Advisor (which we seem to use for everything these days). The bus was on time and the tour guide Steve seemed nice, and very funny. First, the tour took us to Featherdale Wildlife Park, we were the first ones there and greeted with a man holding an 8 month old kangaroo. Then we saw more koalas and other animals we’d seen earlier at Lone Pine. Featherdale was good, yet not quite as impressive as Lone Pine as you could not cuddle the Koala’s, and the staff didn’t seem as friendly. We both plucked up the courage to hold a snake, it was a Olive Python, which is a constrictor and not venomous. It was only a short stay at the wildlife park as we had lots to fit in the day. After Featherdale we were taught how to throw a boomerang in a field, and then we drove to a scenic point with a huge waterfall, and walked down (then back up) 212 steps to get to a good vantage point. Then we got to the three sisters and got some good pictures and admired the view. Then we went to Scenic World and went on the SkyWalk, then the Scenic Railway and Scenic Cable car. The SkyWalk had a glass bottom so we could see hundreds of meters below us into the forest and see another big waterfall. Next was the train, which is the world’s steepest (52 degrees) funicular (with a counter balance) train. We recognised this from Mama and Gramps photos. Then we walked through the rainforest to the cable car. Then Steve took us in the bus to the Sydney Olympic park. Finally we got a Captain Cruise ferry back to Darling Harbour. Then we had garlic prawns for tea then had another early night!
We didn’t feel like walking much the next day, however most of the events left in the schedule involved lots of walking so we decided to do the easier one of our planned beach walks (6k instead of 10k) which was the Bondi to Coogee walk. We were up early again as we had to checkout Meriton. We’d booked the next two nights at the Holiday Inn in Potts Point as the prices shot up for Meriton on the Tuesday and Wednesday, we’re not sure why. We tried to use all of food as we were not sure if there was a fridge at the Holiday Inn. I made peanut butter sandwiches to use up the last of the bread. We were left with 4 pints of milk, which Oli was unable to throw out so took it to the beach with us! We got the free 555 bus to Circular Quay then paid for MyBus tickets to Bondi. The beach walk was great, the sun was out again and there were lots of little swimming pools, lagoons and beaches although there were a few too many steps at times! After the walk we got a bus back to Meriton and checked out our luggage at around 5:30. The Holiday Inn was about 2km away and we were going to get a taxi but it was rush hour, so we decided to start off walking with 25kg of luggage each to see how far we could get, as we didn’t want to pay to sit in a stationary taxi and walking would perhaps be quicker anyway. This started off well, and after 200 metres we were optimistic that we could do it. 2km doesn’t sound much, but when you are going uphill, crossing main roads every 100 metres, unsure where you’re going, you’ve already walked over 5km that day, its 20 degrees, you’re wearing your coat to make the bag lighter and you’re carrying a main bag, hand luggage and bag of drinks you’re refusing to throw away, it is. A local man spotted us trying to juggle the bags and look at a map (it could not have been more obvious that we were lost tourists) and gave us directions. By this point my hand was hurting from the plastic handle on the bag, I commented about how it would be easier with gloves then Oli pulled a leather glove from his bag! I had to question why Oli had brought leather gloves with him on a summer holiday but they were useful for protecting my hands. I developed a new technique for pulling the bag, which involved holding the bag with both hands behind me, then bending forward and doing a weird waddling run which got some stares from the locals, but worked. We finally made it to the Holiday Inn, without the need for a taxi, tired and very sweaty. After a rest, we went out to find Harry’s pie shop which we had heard about on Trip Advisor and in various Sydney guides. I got a beef pie with gravy and mash and Oli wanted chicken curry pie, which they didn’t have, so he asked for cheese and bacon but ended up with beef instead. Oli wasn’t very impressed with his pie, I thought the mash and gravy were really tasty, the pie was nice but nothing special.
On Wednesday we caught the ferry to Watson’s Bay to have a look round there. Unfortunately when we got to Watsons Bay it was lightly raining, we took a walk up to the gap and walked around some of the trails up there. By the end of our walk the light rain had turned into a downpour. We decided to take cover in the much recommended Doyle’s fish and chips shop. Initially it seemed nice, we ordered fish and chips for 11 dollars, then Oli spotted it was one dollar twenty for a small sachet of tomato sauce. We were disgusted by this, so we sat and ate dry chips with no sauce, grumbling about our big bottle of Heinz we had back at the hotel. The rain wasn’t stopping so we wrote off the rest of the day in Watsons Bay and headed back to Circular Quay. Oli had planned to meet his friend at 3.30 at the Guylian restaurant in the Rocks, so we had a couple of hours to kill before we met her. We went to the Customs House which is just in front of the Quay where you can get free newspapers from your country on the ground floor, and the first and second floors are a very modern library. We sat there for an hour or so and used the Internet and I started my maths coursework. Then we met Claire and had some ice cream and waffles at Guylian’s, then we went over the road to the pub to meet some of her other friends for a drink. By this point the sun was out so we sat outside. Our bridge climb was at 7:15pm and you are breathalysed so we had soft drinks. After the drinks we only had a short gap to get back to the Holiday inn, get more appropriate footwear then back to the Rocks for the bridge climb. The walk there and back is about 6k, we made the walk back to the hotel, but we were short of time to get back so we got the train from Kings Cross to Town Hall then up to Circular Quay. We then walked to the BridgeClimb office. A lady briefed us about the climb, assessed our size and gave us each an outfit, there were 12 others on our climb. She advised that was very humid and they were advising you only wear a t shirt and your underwear under the suit. Then we met our Climb instructor who geared us up with head phones, a radio, belt, clip to attach to the wire on the bridge, raincoat, fleece, even a handkerchief, all of which were clipped to us. We looked like spacemen be the end. Next we had a practice climb on the indoor simulator then we headed out on the bridge. I was very scared at the beginning but had read many reviews by others who were scared of heights who said the start was the worst part as you can see the ground under your feet and you have to climb up 4 ladders and it was very windy. Things got better once the ladders were over and I enjoyed the climb when we started walking up the arch of the bridge and the steel was solid. The view was great from the top and it was very pretty with all the lights of the city. After the climb we had one final walk home – another 3k. Hopefully we’ll have a relaxing day today. p.s. most of the photos are duplicates after 45 because we were disconnected at the Internet cafe

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Comments

[Phyllis Farrand]

Wonderful news.
So good to hear from you again, Oli and Lisa. Just talked to Janie and she thinks that you will be leaving to go home on Sunday. I am going to miss reading about your travels . You have really done a good thing to do all of the writing. Yes, I saw your Texas shirt Oli. Did you have any comments on it?You can see why you need to be young to do all of the walking and adventures in a new country. I am so glad you went and you will always remember the experience in Brisbane with all of the water. Have a fun time when you get to Shanghai. That is a fabulous airport ! Love from Phyllis