We have had a lovely week in Sydney over Christmas and it was all go! We started with the open top bus tour around the city and then one along the coast via Bondi Beach, Double Bay and Rose Bay. It is a lovely city with a variety of fabulous architecture, lots of parks, churches and shops.
This is us at the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge!! (134 m high)
On Christmas Eve we made the ascent to the top of the Bridge. We exchanged our own clothes for a sexy all in one (see above!) and were covered in a selection of bits and pieces - hats, glasses, hankies, headphones, radios, raincoats, fleeces; all attached to us by cords. The fabulous guide we had (another Claire!) gave us 2 pouches which were a parachute and a life jacket in case we had to jump from the bridge........ and you know, we all believed her! (these were the coats!!)
We also had a safety harness that attached us to a guide wire all the length of the walk. Off we went up steep ladders, along the underside of the roadway, more ladders, along the arch of the bridge, over the bridge, and the same in reverse back down. The views were fantastic even though it did start to rain and we all got our raincoats out. We were not allowed to take our own cameras or anything you could drop! So we bought the 2 photos above as they made us laugh!
If you want to see more about the bridge here is a link to their website http://www.bridgeclimb.com/theClimb/BridgeClimb/sydney_climb.htm
This is what we looked like from below - the flags were the size of a double decker bus.In the evening of Xmas Eve we went to a carol concert at Darling Harbour. Lots of people in shorts and T shirts and silly Santa hats! If you are on face book, go there to see a short video I took! You will laugh - especially if you work in an Infant School!
Christmas Eve carols at Darling Harbour.
Christmas Day. Can you see where we are yet?
We visited many places in Sydney. On Christmas Day we did hot spots of the area - and no shops. Brad and Anthony bought us Santa hats and we wore them nearly all day! The Opera House is lovely and shimmers gold in good light and generally reflects the weather above. We caught the tail ends of the Christmas services in both the Anglican and Catholic Cathedrals; walked through the beautiful botanical gardens seeing more flying foxes; and visited Hyde Park.
A stop off at Bondi Beach
An average day of boating mayhem on Sydney Harbour.
This is a view of the Harbour from one of the Granite Pylons on the Bridge. This is just an average day on the water here. We bought a day pass for £8 and went up and down the coast on ferries and buses. We went on a large ferry (to Manly Beach), a small ferry (to Darling Harbour) and a catamaran (to Watson's Bay). From Watson's Bay we walked through streets with lovely houses (Paul Hogan used to live here....The owners of Raffles in Singapore live here). All very posh and expensive. One house pointed out to us was $12 million. I don't think we will be moving in. We had a cream tea at a delightful Colonial House and took the bus back just in time to be caught in a major down pour! You could even see each raindrop fall on the choppy sea as we went back to our hotel on the ferry.
A lovely view across Darling Harbour.
The arrow shows our hotel.
We had a great apartment in a lovely old wool store building from the 1930s that had replaced an earlier one that had burnt down. We would have had a view of the harbour apart from the tree in front of our window (and the Convention Centre in front of the tree!). The posh folks in the Penthouse suites had a better view!
We are now back at Claire and Anthony's for the new year then we are off to Canberra and back down to Melbourne.
