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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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“We started climbing [the bridge] in daylight and could see the Opera House and harbor in all its glory.” |
Our car trip from Melbourne ended in Sydney on Saturday, December 23rd. We dropped off our rental car at Avis and were so excited to see our good friends Janine and Carl drive up to cart us off to their place in Sydney. We have been looking so forward to arriving in and visiting this beautiful city and it has truly lived up to our expectations.
Janine and Carl live in a suburb of Sydney in Rose Bay - which is a bay within the Sydney harbor. We took a quick 15 minute ferry ride from their place into Circular Quay on our first full day in Sydney - we were ready for sightseeing. The first glimpse we had of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge was indescribable. The opera house looked so small from far away next to the bridge because it is absolutely enormous - but as we got closer to the opera house you could really see the size and grandeur of this Sydney icon. It is truly beautiful and breathtaking.
We headed to The Rocks near Circular Quay to see where the original European settlers had landed when founding Australia and to also partake in the Sunday street market going on in the area. There were lots of arts and crafty type booths with people selling everything from souvenirs to jewelery to food to scrapbooking supplies (Scrapbooking is huge in Australia!). We had a nice walk about the area and then headed from here to the Opera House.
The opera house is thought to be the most identifiable icon for Australia more than any kangaroo, boomerang, and perhaps even Steve Irwin. It is a beautiful symbol of a gorgeous country. The opera house sits right on the edge of the water out in front of Harbor Bridge and is a welcoming icon for any visitors arriving into Sydney via the water. We did enquire about doing the internal tour of the Opera House but as April was the only person who was really interested out of the 4 of us we decided that the majority rules and we'd save this tour for our next trip to Sydney. The remainder of the day was spent enjoying the sea side, walking through the botanical gardens, and preparing for the Christmas festivities - I mean it was Christmas Eve after all.
Christmas day was fairly typical in comparison to our Christmas's past - in some regards. We woke in the morning to presents and breakfast, and then headed to gather with family for a Christmas dinner. However, we were opening presents with Janine & Carl in their flat and then having Christmas dinner with Janine's step-mothers family from Lebanon. Plus, we opted to spend our evening alone with our present to each other - a twilight climb up the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
Everyone that had been to Sydney said we had to climb the Sydney harbor bridge and everyone that had done the twilight climb insisted it was as good as it gets. So we bit the bullet, bought the ticket, and prepared for the climb of our life. This was definitely a once in a lifetime experience (mainly because of the cost) but the additional $$$'s for the twilight climb were worth it. Our climb started around 6:00PM and lasted until 9:30PM. At 6:30 we started gearing up with coveralls, harnesses, walkie-talkies, headsets, etc - everything we needed to make the tour a success. The walk itself was a little under 3 hours from start to finish. We started climbing in daylight and could see the Opera House and harbor in all its glory. The sun was setting over the Blue Mountains when we reached the very top of the bridge - a beautiful sunset with reds, yellows, and pinks. And then the city nightscape was in full force during our descent down the bridge. We really did get 2 climbs in one. Not a lot of pictures to be had as no cameras were allowed on the climb and we only opted to purchase one of the two of us with the Opera house in the background.
Boxing day (i.e. December 26th) found us at famous Bondi Beach. This is the beach to go to in Sydney for sunbathing and especially surfing. The beach was long and clean, with wave after wave of clear water rolling in. There were sunbathers everywhere and lots of surfers in the water taking advantage of the waves. We laid out for about an hour - Chris got the worst sunburn of his life after falling asleep - before we decided to take a bit of a walk along the coast. We walked from Bondi along the coast and past a number of other beaches. Probably lasted for about 2 hours or so and dropped us off at Coogee Beach - a perfect place to stop for lunch with salt and pepper calamari. So good!
We spent the next few days north of Sydney at Lake Macquaire with Janine and Carl. We enjoyed kayaking out on the lake, sunbathing, jet boating around the lake, relaxing, and talking over good meals. The jet boat ride was a particular highlight for the trip as it gave us a bit of a tour of this massive lake. The time in Macquaire also gave Chris a chance to recover from his massive back to front, head to toe sunburn. You've never seen anything like it.
Our time in Sydney came to a close much too quickly and we finished off our time with Janine and Carl at their favorite restaurant - a true Sydney institution -Doyle's located in Watson's Bay. It is the original fish and chips shop in Sydney and has the most fantastic fried fish, shrimp, and calamari we've ever had. So, so good! We had such a wonderful visit with Janine and Carl and can't believe it's already time to head home, but the sooner we get home, the sooner they come to visit us in beautiful Texas!
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