On top of the world

Sunday was my first full day in Sydney, and our goal was modest: see the two biggest architectural landmarks in Sydney. First was the Sydney Opera House. We took the roundabout approach--coming in from the Royal Botanical Gardens.

The hour long tour is very well done. It was a mix of short prerecorded videos on the history shown between seeing the different venue. Our tour had one guide and there were about twenty people on the tour. After hearing about the history and seeing the performance venues (there is a concert hall and space for plays in addition to the opera stage), we were sold, and we decided to get two tickets to an opera that they were performing on Tuesday.

Next we took another run through the gardens, followed by a trip by Circular Quay. This is where many of the ferries leave for various outlying parts of the city. Then it was time for me to get ready for my twilight climb of Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The bridge was built in the late 1920's (you can see it behind the opera house in the photo above) and is over a thousand meters long and 139 meters high. The Sydney Bridge Climb has been operating for almost ten years. They have strung a cable from the base up to the top span, across the bridge, and then down to the other side. They do not allow any loose objects up on the climb (including cameras) for obvious reasons, but they have a couple stops set up for the guides to take pictures.


The picture above was on the way up the bridge. For a while it looked like I might not get to do it--they suspend operations when there is a lightening storm within 10 km, and one passed through just as my group was heading up to the top. Fortunately it passed, and by the time we were coming down the other side, it was nightfall, giving a great view of the city.