Sunday, Feb. 20 - Sydney and the Harbour Bridge

This morning we found an Irish pub on George Street with much cheaper breakfast!  Everything in Sydney is at New York City prices, at the very least.

Breakfast in the garden of an Irish pub.

Our Frommer’s guide said don’t miss the Bronte to Bondi cliff walk, so we didn’t.  Located in suburbs southeast of the city, these are two of the most famous beaches, along with Manly beach, which we will visit tomorrow.  Between them is a paved cliffside walk of about two miles with striking seaside vistas.  There was also a lot eye candy for dirty old men, but I, of course, modestly averted my eyes when confronted by pulchritude on our walk.  So the beginning of our walk was Bronte Beach and the end was Bondi Beach, where we had lunch at the Bondi Trattoria.

Bronte Beach, our starting point

The cliffs along the way

 Returning by taxi to our room, we decided we needed a bit of a rest before our next strenuous exercise, the climbing of the Harbour Bridge.  Although incredibly expensive, especially for the sunset climb, we decided we had to do it, a once in a lifetime opportunity.  We were surprised by the elaborate preparations once we got there.  We felt like we were going on a space mission - special suits, a harness connecting us to a cable for the full length of the walk, earphones and radio receptor so the guide could talk to us, a pack containing a parka in case of rain, all connected in some way to the suit.  We had to submit to a breathalyzer test and there was a practice set of ladders so we could get used to climbing while connected to the cable.  This was all done with patience and good humor by the guides.  One disappointment is that we could not take cameras with us, partly because they wouldn’t want us snapping pictures instead of concentrating on what we were doing, and partly because they took the pictures, which they could then sell to us, of course!

Here we go!

The climb was only moderately strenuous.  I confess to being out of breath a couple times, but there were rest stops along the way to recover, and to take photographs.  As we approached the top, the view was breathtaking (or was I just out of breath?).  We lucked out on the weather - it was clear and we could see all of Sydney and as far away as the Blue Mountains, about 40 miles away.  And as you can see from the photo, it was a gorgeous sunset.  Our guide said it was one of the most colorful she had ever seen.  When I asked Karen a couple days later what was the best part of Sydney, she replied without hesitation, “The Bridge Climb.”  So then we descended, spent lots of money for photos and t-shirts, and had a nice light dinner on Argyle Street.

At the top!