Climbing the Bridge

So, climbing the Sydney Harbor bridge was one of the items on my Bucket List, even so, I surprised even myself on how excited I was to do it.  The area where the bridge and Opera House are located is called Circular Quay ("Key") and is very walkable.  There's also the botanical gardens which are close by.  So, shortly after dumping our stuff in the hotel room off we went down to Circular Quay.

A kind stranger passing by took this shot - too bad he cut off the top of the Opera House : /

So, by 10:30am on our first day in Sydney, Mark and I are suiting up for our Sydney Harbor bridge climb.  And 'suiting up' is no understatement - they literally completely outfit you even to the point that we are all in matching jump suits with matching hats, belts, rain gear, radios, and even a little hanky in case you start sweating or your nose runs. Everyting other than your t-shirt, underwear, and glasses are provided for you and is also strapped to you as the miraculous jump suits as hooks and ties for every little thing. The tool belt is worthy of a police officer or batman. The bummer is that you can't bring a camera or cell phone or anything else that you can inadvertently drop off the 500 foot span thereby accidentally killing the pedestrians or people passing underneath in cars and trains. They literally put a metal detector over you looking for loose change, guns, knives or whatever to be sure. Sort of makes sense.  You also can't be drunk because they give you a breathalyzer test - they have their act down and the process is fairly idiot-proof, or so it would seem.

So, we were suited up which took about an hour.  Our climbing guide, Maria, was very nice.  She memorized all our names and almost immediately started calling Mark - "cheeky Mark" which told me she was smart. :)  The climb wasn't nearly as strenuous as I had thought and our little group of people was very  nice and friendly - most from the UK, one couple from Australia.  Here we are "summiting" the Bridge :)



We had a great time and out timing was perfect as right after we got down under the covered part of the bridge it started raining.  So, for $200 dollars you get a 2 1/2 climb to the top of the bridge, a hat, a commemorative certificate, and a group picture and I get a check mark on by bucket list - well worth it :)

Day 1 - I'm Here!

Greetings from Sydney!
I thought I would continue my blogging tradition on this trip.  It might be a little harder this time since I am not finding tons of wifi action here.  Nevertheless since I'll be on my own for some days when Mark is not here I thought I'd use the blog as a small measure of security to make sure you guys know where I am and what I'm up to :)

So, the flights here (DC to LA, then LA to Sydney) were good.  I was in Coach on the DC to LA flight - not ideal but it got me there which was the goal, so mission accomplished.  The flight from LAX to SYD was a 747, a huge plane - with an upstairs and all. I was in Business class on that flight which was fabulous.  Once I got settled I went up to the cockpit.  I met the other pilots that Mark was flying with, 3 others, and they let me sit in the pilot seat - fun :)  Mark took a pic on his bb which I will get him to send me when he gets back.  So, United does a great job of Business Class on the 747, the seat goes completely flat, a nice TV with movies and TV shows, even audio books.  I was actually able to sleep on the plane this time which is unusual for me.  I think I slept about 5 hours.  It was a perfect flight - couldn't imagine any better.

We arrived in Sydney on the 16th at 7am Sydney time.  You lose a day on the trip, we left on the 14th and arrived on the 16th - you get the day back though on the return trip. Since Mark and I were both able to sleep we decided to drop our stuff at the hotel and go directly to the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb.  It was on my bucket list so I was psyched to get 'er done... next stop the one and only iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge!