Australia Day 1 - Way Up Down Under
The 15-hour flight to Sydney wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. My plan to beat the jetlag was to watch three movies and sleep the rest of the way. The flight was delayed by 20 minutes, so we didn't depart Los Angeles until 10:50pm Saturday night. Once airborne, I plugged in my noise-cancelling headphones (which, by the way, really do help reduce airplane fatigue) and proceeded to watch The Secret Life of Bees (Excellent movie - When was the last time you saw either Queen Latifah or Dakota Fanning in a bad movie?), Gran Torino (predictable, but still a well-told story), and Last Chance Harvey (other than watching Emma Thompson be her charming self, not really worthwhile). Dinner and a snack were both served during my mini movie marathon. Afterwards, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep as much as possible. The challenge was that I was right next to the restrooms. Every time the door opened and closed, the noise was accompanied by a blast of bright light in the dark cabin. After doing my best to "sleep" for six hours, I decided to watch another movie - Burn After Reading (It seemed like an inside joke gone too far.). By that time, we were an hour away from Sydney, so I monitored the moving flight map. It was around this time that the sun finally showed and we were treated to a sunrise over the Pacific. Fifteen hours and 7488 miles later, we landed safely in Sydney at 6:45am Monday morning. Yup, my entire "Sunday" was spent in the night sky over six miles above the Pacific Ocean.
I cleared customs and made my way by train down to Circular Quay, a downtown train station on the south side of Sydney Harbour. I had a 9:15am appointment to climb the Harbour Bridge (see here for the official website). The check-in was a short walk around the corner from the train station, and I made it easily in time. I checked in and waited for our orientation. Our group was then escorted into a small room where we signed the usual release forms (good health, don't sue us if you die, etc.). Next, we moved to the changing area to put on specially-designed jump suits with clips for everything. After all, it is a working bridge and we can't be dropping things on rush-hour traffic. Next we went through a simulated portion of the climb in order to become familiar with what to expect when we got outside. Chris, our guide, is originally from Arizona, and was really friendly with the 13 of us. In our group there was a father and son from Adelaide celebrating Dad's 50th birthday, a Radiation Oncologist from California with her 66-year old mother, a couple from Switzerland, a mother and her 10-year old daughter both from Tasmania. It was quite the eclectic group.
The climb itself was quite pleasant. It was cloudy with a light drizzle, but we climbed anyways. The views of the city were absolutely gorgeous. And the thought of being on top of a working bridge was even cooler. There's not much more for me to say; I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
After climbing down, I made my way back around to the Sydney Opera House. Worried about missing my flight to the Gold Coast, I opted to take a few pictures leaving the tour for another time. I picked up a pastry at the train station and rode back to the airport. There, I wrote out some postcards for my wife and children before boarding my flight.
Arriving in the Gold Coast, I boarded a shuttle to my hotel. When I arrived the lightning and drizzle gave way to a torrential downpour which soaked me in the twenty steps to the hotel lobby. Once inside, I took my key and made my way up to my room. I showered, dressed and met friends for dinner. Although I bumped into Walter last year February, I hadn't seen his family in years. We caught up over Indian food before calling it a night. I got back to my hotel room around 11:15pm. It was a long day for sure.
Pictures of the day are here.
I cleared customs and made my way by train down to Circular Quay, a downtown train station on the south side of Sydney Harbour. I had a 9:15am appointment to climb the Harbour Bridge (see here for the official website). The check-in was a short walk around the corner from the train station, and I made it easily in time. I checked in and waited for our orientation. Our group was then escorted into a small room where we signed the usual release forms (good health, don't sue us if you die, etc.). Next, we moved to the changing area to put on specially-designed jump suits with clips for everything. After all, it is a working bridge and we can't be dropping things on rush-hour traffic. Next we went through a simulated portion of the climb in order to become familiar with what to expect when we got outside. Chris, our guide, is originally from Arizona, and was really friendly with the 13 of us. In our group there was a father and son from Adelaide celebrating Dad's 50th birthday, a Radiation Oncologist from California with her 66-year old mother, a couple from Switzerland, a mother and her 10-year old daughter both from Tasmania. It was quite the eclectic group.
The climb itself was quite pleasant. It was cloudy with a light drizzle, but we climbed anyways. The views of the city were absolutely gorgeous. And the thought of being on top of a working bridge was even cooler. There's not much more for me to say; I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
After climbing down, I made my way back around to the Sydney Opera House. Worried about missing my flight to the Gold Coast, I opted to take a few pictures leaving the tour for another time. I picked up a pastry at the train station and rode back to the airport. There, I wrote out some postcards for my wife and children before boarding my flight.
Arriving in the Gold Coast, I boarded a shuttle to my hotel. When I arrived the lightning and drizzle gave way to a torrential downpour which soaked me in the twenty steps to the hotel lobby. Once inside, I took my key and made my way up to my room. I showered, dressed and met friends for dinner. Although I bumped into Walter last year February, I hadn't seen his family in years. We caught up over Indian food before calling it a night. I got back to my hotel room around 11:15pm. It was a long day for sure.
Pictures of the day are here.
