Sydney

The day had finally come to return the van and become normal people again, sleeping in a proper bed and not eating Spag Bol every fourth day.  We cleaned the van and did the final bit of packing seemingly having more stuff than we started with and left to drive the remaining 2 hours into Sydney.  We headed for one of the suburbs a little way out of the main CBD to one of Emma’s old friends who had emigrated out here some 8 years ago and kindly offered us a bed for a few nights.  The plan was to stay with Matt, Sara and their 2 year old Vigilin Freddie for 3 days and then move to a hotel closer to town and prepare for New Zealand.

We dropped the bags at the house and made our way to the airport to drop the van.  With the usual inspection over and done with and no issues found to threaten our deposit, they did the grand reveal of how many kilometres we had driven…..another 4500 km since Cairns.

For me Sydney has been a place I have always wanted to visit, for Emma it’s a place she knows well having visited it several times and lived here for 3 months.  So for our visit we tried to do new things that Emma had not done before, as well as her showing me the sights.

First on the agenda was to see the place that Sydney is famous for, its spectacular harbour with views of the Harbour Bridge and the iconic Sydney Opera House.  We took in the sights of Circular Key, the Rocks and Darling Harbour taking way too many pictures and had the odd stop for a cheeky glass of wine (it was hot and we were getting dehydrated).  We also wandered the general CBD.  This area is a mix of tourist entertainment, more restaurants than you can shake a stick at and business offices.  The city itself still has a number of historical areas left reminding us that it was one of the first places in Australia to be colonised, but also has the large modern buildings that make Sydney the business centre of Australia (the capital and political centre is Canberra).

Next was a famous coastal walk from Bondi Beach to Coogee Beach.  We caught the bus to Bondi from the CBD and as we stepped off, Emma proudly presented “And this is Bondi”.  I replied “Is that it?!” as it was much smaller than I had expected.  Like everyone else who has seen this iconic place on the TV, I imagined it to be something special, but to me it looked like Weymouth just with better surfing.

We spent the afternoon walking the 5.5 km to Coogee taking in the diverse and spectacular scenery along this coast - amazing really considering this is now essentially a suburb of Sydney.  It beats Romford by some margin.

The day finally came to attempt the Harbour Bridge climb.  At nearly $200 each its not cheap but its just one of those things you have to do and as Emma had not done it before she felt it was about time she did.  The climb is so popular they take a group of 14 every 10 minutes, every day of the year except the 30 and 31 Dec when they are prepping the bridge for New Years Eve and the iconic firework display.  The tour itself takes 3 hours including the time to get prepared.

We had planned it for the Thursday morning as the weather was predicted to be good and lo and behold, it was!  We arrived at the bridge climb centre and got given the obligatory disclaimer form to fill in which basically says that if you die its no ones fault….don’t you just hate signing those forms.  Next all lose items had to come out of your pockets and no metal objects were to be taken up including watches and cameras.  Finally we were given a very unattractive romper suit to wear and made to go through an airport style metal detector to make sure we were not carrying any nail clippers or forks.

Once everyone had cleared security we met our guide, Ronan, an Irish gentlemen who had been guiding for nearly 10 years and been in Australia for 20 years, however had not lost the typical Irish wit.  Can someone do us a favour next time they visit Ireland and see if there is anyone left in the country as they all seem to be in Australia!

Next we kitted up with the safety equipment, two way radios and hats and gloves to keep warm.  Then it was time to face the Bridge simulator.  This sounds much more grand than it was, basically a set of metal stairs that are the same as those on the bridge which showed you how to use the tether that kept you from falling or jumping of the bridge (not sure which).  Once everyone had successfully negotiated the simulator we finally entered the airlock and made our way onto the bridge.  Before we go on to the next bit of the blog, I have to explain that all the pictures you will see were taken by our guide as we were not allowed to take a camera with us.

First we made our way underneath the elevated section of road that brings the traffic up to the actual bridge.  The route was a narrow metal path hung from the deck above and provided unrestricted views of the nearly 50 m drop to the streets below.  Next you made your way through the columns that suspend the suspension bridge and to the ladders that take you to the arch.  There are four in all and are very steep being only a few degrees from vertical.  As we approached the first ladder a lady with her two teenage daughters began to freak at the idea of climbing these ladders over what looked like open water.  After a few minutes of coxing by Ronan she was escorted to a lift and taken to the arch to rejoin us there.  The climb up the arch is not as steep as it looked from the ground but provided spectacular views of the city, the bay, and of course, Sydney Opera House.  We were on the bridge for nearly 2 hrs having photos taken and just staring at the view.  The weather held out with clear skies but at nearly 150 m above the water a fair breeze was blowing making it quite cold.  It definitely lived up to our expectations and we were glad we did it.

Its funny how some people love cities and hate the outdoors, whilst others hate the hustle and bustle of cities and much prefer the solitude of the countryside.  I think we are unusual (those who know us would say we are strange but that’s for another time) as we love both.  After our outback adventures it was nice to return to the modern world and so with Matt and Sara we planned our first proper dress up night out on the town.

It was a Friday night before a bank holiday weekend and it was the football (that is rugby, football here is called soccer) final weekend between two Sydney teams, the first time in years so the town had a buzz about it.  We met in the Sydney Opera bar, spectacularly situated next to the harbour on the quay next to the opera house.  After a few drinks with the growing crowd of business people who had finished work for the weekend, we made our way a short distance to the public library which on its top floor housed Café Sydney, one of the best restaurants in Sydney which just so happened to also have the best view of the Harbour Bridge.

We sat outside on the patio to enjoy the best views with blankets for our laps and patio heaters to warm the cold air and had one of the most spectacular meals either of us had ever had (company, food and view).  After we had a few nightcaps in Woolloomooloo and then a much needed walk back to our hotel.

Our final adventures in Sydney included a ferry to Manly (another beach suburb of Sydney) which was short lived due to the weather….rain, rain with a short burst of rain, a really pleasant coffee and catch up with another of Emma’s friends also called Sara and some amazing pizza with Sara and Matt (thanks both for such a great time and looking after us!)

     Sydney is a city built for wandering and this is just as well because most of the time you need to work off the fabulous food and drink from its many varied restaurants and bars.  For good reason Sydney is one of the great cities of the world and after our very short visit I can see why.  We loved our time here and wanted to stay longer, but alas that was not to be.  New Zealand calls and the final 7 weeks of our trip.