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Published: January 18th 2006
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The entrance to Luna Park
We think this looks a bit like the Queen's face. Contrary to a statement made in a previous blog, we’ve not actually organized the big hike over the Harbour Bridge yet. The starting cost is about a hundred pounds per person for a night time walk at 3am, and increases rapidly from there, so we reckoned it would be a good idea to take a stroll across the pedestrian footpath first to get an idea of what we’d be paying out for. So after brekker one morning, we headed out to the Rocks area, which is right next to Circular Quay where we catch the ferry (and where we spent New Years Eve) to start the climb up the stairs to the walkway on the bridge. The bridge is actually quite wide, and there are designated areas for cars, trains, bikes, lorries, and pedestrians. You can’t deviate from these areas, otherwise you receive a fine, and there are security guards parading constantly, to make sure everyone behaves themselves. The huge structure, affectionately referred to locally as the ‘Old Coathanger’ because of its shape, was completed in 1932 at a cost of circa $20M AU, and it links the main part of Sydney to a satellite business district on the opposite side
of the water. It had been raining the evening before, and the clouds were threatening to let go again at any time, therefore the visibility was fairly poor. Nevertheless we enjoyed the walk across, stopping from time to time to take some snaps of the bridge, of workers & climbers, and of the city views behind us. Alan hung back to talk to one of the bridge painters who was balancing precariously in a cabin at the end of a pulley just over the side. He found out that the bridge is being constantly painted - a bit like the Forth Rail bridge in Edinburgh - and it takes one full year to complete this task from start to finish. Alan was surprised and chuffed when the painter man gave him a discarded bolt from the bridge, which he’d retrieved while working away that morning. We’re going to post it home as a momento of our trip, and Alan’s dad has had a brilliant idea to have it made into a paper weight.
Once you reach the other side of the bridge, there is a fun fair called Luna Park, which has been in situ for about a century
in one form or another. Its hey day was in the 1960s when Sydneysiders would flock there to enjoy not only the rides and candyfloss, but also the Dances and side shows which regularly took place. These days its size has been thoroughly diminished, with heavyweight building contractors inching in, constantly chipping away at it, replacing waltzers & rollercoasters for apartment blocks with harbour views. We wandered round Luna Park for about an hour or so, enjoying the sweet old fashioned themes so sadly lacking these days at fun fairs. Luna Park still has an it’s antique Carousel, a fun house, a small wooden rollercoaster, and also various employees wandering through the crowds dressed as Circus ringmasters, and cuddly animals - all for the kids. We liked it and would go back again if the weather was better, as half way round our trip there the heavens opened and we got a bit soaked. Ho hum!
Later on, after we’d returned to the central side of the harbour, we enjoyed a gorgeous steak dinner and drinks in the Rocks area. Unfortunately we didn’t have a watch with us, and we lost track of time. This meant that we kept
missing the ferry back to Manly and this forced us to take more drinks than we planned (ending up a bit worse for wear-oops!). Same old story, isn’t it? However, we met some interesting bods, and had a drink in a pub claiming to be the oldest in Sydney. For some strange reason (can’t think what) we’re unable to recall the name of this pub, however there seems to be some debate between three pubs in the Rocks area, all claiming to have been there longest. So it wouldn’t matter anyway, even if we could remember through the wine soaked haze, as it could be a number of places. Typical!
Anyway - these photos are all jumbled up in no particular order. We hope you can make sense of them.
Bye for now,
Alan & Shaz. x
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