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Published: February 8th 2008
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We arrived in Sydney on the 26/1 - Australia day, a little like St Georges/Patrick's etc. however they are allowed to celebrate it and they know how to celebrate it! After checking into our hostel we headed to Hyde Park - it was packed with people and events, the sun was shining and the weather was good. After enjoying the atmosphere of Hyde Park over lunch we headed to Sydney harbor - boats galore, heaven! We made it just in time to see a tall ship race ending at the Sydney harbor bridge, We chose to view the event from the Opera House giving a great view of events below. The atmosphere on the water was just as good as the atmosphere on land, hundreds of boats/yachts many decorated. There was so much going on in the city, a lot of streets were closed down to accommodate the event; it included three streets worth of classic cars, it was great!
We managed to cover many of the main attractions in the city on foot on the first day. We finished off the day back down on the harbor listening to live music and ultimately a firework display which was amongst
the best we've seen - they sure know how to spend money!
27/1 we subscribed to a hop on/ hop off tourist bus that would take us around the main attractions in Sydney with a basic commentary on the history. The most memorable was a tour of the Sydney Opera House, lasting about an hour we had an access all areas tour and a very informative guide talked us through the design process and some funny stories about the House! The building of the opera house is very interesting if you have time to look it up. Following this we jumped back on the bus to finish the tour of sights around Sydney which included Kings Cross - the red light district! We finished our day with a trip out to Bondi Beach, although it has a beautiful beach the town is a little run down and tatty.
28/1 - a day of adventure, well sort of! We woke early and headed to the Sydney Harbor Bridge for 0745 in preparation to climb the bridge. The Bridge nick named the old coat hanger (as it looks like a coat hanger) and is, and we were preparing to climb
to the top, above the walkway and roadway. It took 1 hour to prepare us and the group for the walk having to be fitted with jumpsuits (so we blended with the bridge and wouldn't distract traffic) harnesses - so if we had the urge to jump/fall we couldn't, handkerchief (in case Mark wanted a cry!) and any accessories like sunglasses and hats had to be tied to the suit giving no chance of it dropping off. For the duration of the Climb, you will be attached to a static line on the Bridge, ensuring you feel safe, secure and comfortable at all times.
"During the Climb, participants walk along flat, inclined mesh catwalks; Climb up and down four flights of stairs; Climb 465 widely spaced steps on the arches; and step over, duck under and squeeze through girders". The one hour preparation was well worth it, as well as having the opportunity to get close to the bridge we climbed to a height of 134 meters above sea level - needless to say the views were remarkable! In the end the climb was "too easy" (personal joke)! We were really lucky, the weather was fine but being early
in the morning it wasn't too hot and there was a lovely cool breeze blowing at the top. The bridge has 6,000,000 rivets holding it in place, one of the jobs available during construction was that of the catcher. One guy would throw the white hot rivets from a distance and the catcher would have to catch them in a tin (the size of a bean can), amazingly it is estimated that there are only 10,000 lying on the harbor floor.
After the walk we headed down onto the harbor to socialise with the pick of the bunch (Nichole Kidman has an apartment on the Harbor - unfortunately I was too busy to entertain her)! We had lunch on the harbor by the opera house and watched the boats 'coming in, and going out again'. After lunch we chartered a ferry (with 100 others) to Manly a beachy suburb of Sydney. Taking the ferry gave us the opportunity to take in the enormity of the harbor - one of the worlds largest natural harbors. Once at manly you can chooses from two beaches - one on the harbor side, the other the ocean side - we opted to shop
due to the many sales that were taking place. We did manage to take in some sun n' sea before heading back to Sydney via ferry.
29/1 - Today we headed to Bondi to have a day of relaxing, but first we had to work for it! We walked aprox. 7 km from Coogee, a suburb of Sydney, to Bondi taking in the dramatic coast line and trampling through the many bays along the way. On the cliffs just before Bondi resides a tramp that has set up home. A couple of years ago the local council tried to have him removed but the locals kick up so much fuss they decided he could stay, I seem to remember it made world news. Some moron would pay millions for the views he enjoys for free! After the fulfilling walk we spent the afternoon damaging our skin (the weather was fine) and frolicking amongst the waves, which were particularly good for body surfing. In the evening we frequented the harbor once more to meet with a friend of Helen's who is working in Sydney (it's tough not having to work) and taking in the harbor lights.
30/1 - Up
early, packs on, off to the station to jump on the loco heading for the Blue Mountains.
We really enjoyed our experience in Sydney and could have spent longer discovering the place. It was great being able to visit attractions that are iconic of Australia and also discovering the history of this young country.
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