Sydney Walkabout

I spent all day Thursday exploring Sydney. The city is absolutely gorgeous and I can see how it is consistently rated one of the top 5 cities to visit in the world. I just wish it wasn’t half-way around the world or I would definitely consider moving there for a short time.
The first 1½ hours I aimlessly wandered around downtown … going in and out of buildings just checking things out. My first touristy thing I did that morning was to head to the observation deck of the Sydney Tower – 250 meters above the ground. Let’s just say that being over 800 feet above the ground provides an amazing view of the city.
After looking at Sydney from a bird’s eye view, I checked out the city using my feet. I walked through Martin Place towards the Royal Botanical Gardens. The Royal Gardens are breathtakingly beautiful and provide some amazing views of the Harbour, the Opera House and the city. I know that there’s a ton of different species of trees and plants in Australia compared to what we have in the U.S., but I was surprised how cool some of the trees looked.
After the Gardens I headed over to the Opera House for a look and a lunch. I had a little time after lunch and before my bridge climb started, so I took in a street performer. Let’s just say he juggled a torch, a sword & an apple standing on a bicycle 25 feet up in the air … not to shabby. I'm going to try and post the video I took of him once I figure it out.
My appointment for the Harbour Bridge climb was at 2pm. After filling out some documents, taking a breathalyzer test and making sure the equipment worked, we headed up to the bridge to climb it. There were 12 of us on the climb plus the two climb leaders – Jeff & Olivia. From check-in to check-out the climb took 3 hours and we covered approximately 1500 steps. We started by walking up the east side of the bridge, crossed over at the summit, and walked down the west side of the bridge. When we were heading down the bridge, the sun was starting to set which cast a lovely light over the bay.
The remainder of the night was spent having a 10oz steak at a bar – surprisingly tasty – and catching the latest Harry Potter movie at the cinema (beat you too it Jess!). I thought it cost an arm & a leg to see a movie in Chicago, but in Sydney it costs an arm, two legs, a kidney and a gall bladder … A$15.5 for a single ticket. Overall it was one the best days I can remember in a long time … the cancelled flight, the 14.5 hour flight, the lost luggage … the wait was definitely worth it.
I know my words can’t do the city justice, so check out the photos I took throughout the day.

I wish I had a pencil thin mustache

This past weekend was the annual Margaritaville festival/bash/drink-a-thon at Bass Lake. We had three new participants this year (see picture) joining us at the lake. Some were man enough to sleep at the lake and then there was Tom, who had to go back to his Mommy's house in Valpo to sleep in his own bed. I'm not passing judgement here Tom, but even Lynn slept at the lake. On a more eventful note, Lynn & I spent the better part of the afternoon in Bass Lake while a rescue crew was sent out. You would think two people with master's degrees would be able to figure out how to climb back onto a jet ski once they got dumped off. Luckily a nice geriatric couple was gracious enough to rescue us. Other than that, it was a pretty uneventful day at the lake. Scotty-I would keep an eye on Lynn as it seems like she made a new friend at the lake!! Click here for more Margaritaville pictures.


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I leave for Sydney next Monday for Sydney!! One of the things I'll be doing in Sydney during my short two-day stay is climbing Harbour Bridge. Check out link for info on it, it should be pretty cool.

Hopefully this doesn't happend to me during the climb!