Long live your dreams
New York, New York
Sydney
Climbing for Dawn
Photos from Sydney
The Land of the Long White Cloud
Christmas
Jumping high, jumping higher
My birthday
North to South
4th January 2006 - posted from Sydney
If you saw me now, you'd question a few things.
First, you'd be slightly surprised that I'm awake at 2 am, on a Thursday morning. Secondly, you'd notice that I was drinking Red Bull and had a half-full box of Shreddies next to me. Thirdly, you'd query to why I was wearing trekking trousers and walking boots when I'm in the middle of Sydney and it is so early in the morning.
Well the answers are simple. I'm bored of toast and jam; that's the reason for the Shreddies anyway. I found a wonderful shop in Sydney called 'Treats from Home' which imports British food that you can't buy in Australia, such as Shreddies, Harribo, Marmite, PG Tips and all those other British(ish) things. So I bought myself one packet for my last week away from home. Deja vu of New Zealand?
The energy drink and walking boots may still be confusing you, however. The answer to that is also simple, we're climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Most normal people do the 2-hour round climb during the day. We're not normal. There is reason to our insanity though, we're climbing for dawn. We should be at the top of the bridge by 5 am, with the sun just peaking over the horizon, lighting up all of Sydney and the harbour in an early morning bathe of light. There is no better way to experience sunrise in Sydney, or indeed most of this part of the world.
We tried to go up the bridge yesterday morning, but Andy and I slept straight through our 2 am alarms and ended up waking up at 7 instead. This time, we've got lots of alarms and we've had a nap early yesterday.
You just can't believe that it's right there in front of you. The bridge in the background with the opera house in the foreground. It's an impressive sight. We arrived at what is considered to be the best view in Sydney, a park opposite the bridge and opera house, at midday - for our 12 hour wait until countdown. Wow, it was worth it!
Temperatures sored high to nearly 40 degrees, but we relaxed, read, listened to music, chatted and wondered around the park. We saw the last sunset of 2005 shortly before the first set of fireworks for families. Midnight approached. The lights on the bridge went out one by one, as did most of the opera house lights. Massive numbers then appeared at each end of the bridge; the countdown began, then there was a 10 second "fuse" that went along the length of the bridge before the fireworks were set off. From the bridge, from the shore and from barges on the harbour - fireworks everywhere, some forming heart shapes, the theme for this new year's eve.
Andy and I are about to head down to the bridge now to start out climb. Over the next few days we're going to the zoo to see koalas and other Aussie things, we'll visit Sydney's famous beaches and pop in for a tour inside the opera house.