Saturday, July 28, 2012

Hanging around the Harbor

Friday, July 27

Today, we were back to a busy schedule (though not so busy we had to be up before the sun). We started the morning again with a complimentary breakfast in the hotel and confirming our activities for the day. Around noon we headed out of the hotel with the first activity starting at 2:30 down at the Harbor.

We first wandered through Hyde Park - below are some of good pictures. Not much to say - just a nice, scenic stroll.







Since we still had time before the cruise, we headed to Circular Quay to walk through the shops that lined the harbor.


We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then hopped on board the Sydney 2000 for our "Sydney Highlights Harbor Cruise". The boat was by far the largest one we had been on board this trip, which was nice, as the tour group was also by far the largest we had been part of. Stephen and I opted for the top deck, which had the best uninhibited views and the open air and sunshine too. Here are some of the highlights we took pictures of:

The Sydney Harbor Bridge:



The Sydney Opera House:


Sydney Harbor:




The Sydney skyline:



The cruise was supposed to end by 3:45, giving us 20 minutes to walk to the Bridge Climb Center (in the middle of "The Rocks") so we could check in by 4:05 for our 4:20 climb. However, the boat was not on time and we de-boarded at 3:55, causing Stephen and I to hustle to find the Center. Good news, we made it a little after 4pm and got checked in, which allowed me time to almost back out of the climb. I was not feeling very well and spending three hours harnessed to a bridge didn't sound particularly fun. Stephen, being the great guy that he is, called me a wuss and told me to man up. Or something like that. Either way, by 4:20, I was signing the indemnity form and learning how to put on my jumpsuit.

It would seem that all our previous activities were preparing us for this final climb - getting into our SCUBA gear took half as long as it did to get suited up here - we had a jumpsuit, windpants, a safety belt, a spare jacket, gloves, hats, head lamps, radios, headphones, and even clips for hankerchiefs that had to be attached.

 Bungee jumping had warped our sense of height - the bridge was 134m high - the same height as one of the jumps we could have done in Queenstown - that meant that at the top of the bridge when we were looking down to the water - we were thinking how some people actually jumped from this height - a scary realization.

Forty-five minutes later, our group of five (plus our tour guide) were harnessed to the bridge and began our ascent. The whole climb took somewhere between an hour and a half and two hours. We had elected to do the "Discovery Climb", meaning rather than walking up the top ridge of the bridge, we started on the lower levels and spent more time looking at the design and architecture of the bridge - as well as learning facts about how the bridge was made - including the knowledge that the bridge contains 6 million rivets, and only 10,000 fell into the water during construction (and only 15 people from falling - what a comforting thought)

While we were not allowed to bring our cameras on the climb, the guide had a camera and at certain spots, took some absolutely incredible photos (better than we could have taken, for sure), so here are the really goods ones.

Downtown Sydney in the background:


The Opera House in the background:



Sydney Harbor and the bridge:


The climb was absolutely incredible - the views fantastic, the group very personable, and surprisingly, the weather was good too. Our timing was awesome - we started the climb in daylight, got to see the sun set, and then walked back in the dark with the city illuminated. By climbing at night, we were also able to witness a phenomenon only seen at night - the bridge actually blocks the light and creates a shadow on the night sky - even without clouds we could see it.

We made it back down in one piece, unbelievably excited about what we had just completed. After removing all of the gear piece by piece, we headed into town to find some food - choosing a Japanese noodle bar with outdoor seating - heat lamps and blankets provided.



After dinner, we returned to the hotel and went to bed - it had been a long and exciting day. We also had plans to get up early to head to the Olympic Park so I could swim in the 2000 Olympics pool.

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