I AM BACK!
After Markus and I arrived first in Sydney on the 11th of December 2013 I am now back in beautiful Sydney on the 22nd of November 2014. I got changed in my last hostel for this journey and then I walked through the city.
I headed to the Paddy’s Market and went crazy on buying souvenirs! It was so cheap, so many things on offer and I felt the urge to take a piece of Australia with me (and I needed some gifts for my beloved ones ;-) ). Anyway, at 5pm I was finished with my shopping orgy and got on the FREE shuttle bus to Circular Quay. Ah, the majestic Sydney Harbour Bridge!
And of course one of the most iconic buildings in the world: the amazing Sydney Opera House!
The Opera House was one of three things of Australia which hooked me over 10 years ago in wanting to travel through Australia (next to the Great Barrier Reef and kangaroos). Here is the picture we took nearly a year ago.
And I put on the same shirt on purpose to take another similar picture. Well, it seems I gained a few kilograms and of course my hair is longer (I never went to a hairdresser in Australia) but I am surprised that my darker skin color doesn’t show as much.
Anyway, I went onto the Opera House Wifi and chatted shortly with Markus before I had to run to get to my appointment. I was about the climb up the Sydney Harbour Bridge at night!!! AAAHHHHH!!!!
Of course no photography allowed as soon as the climb experience started. We went through all the introduction, health & safety stuff, got our equipment and went up and down a simulator to get used to our gear. Then it was time to climb up! Our guide Kate took 13 other climbers and me up to the top and took these pictures along the way from me.
This one is just as we stepped from underneath the road level onto the bridge structure.
And this one is at the beginning of the arch. We were the first night climb and it already started to get dark.
After about an hour we were halfway up the arch and already had an incredibly beautiful view over the harbour with the dominating Sydney Opera House.
This is my group I went up with. All of them very nice, friendly and chatty people.
As we descended down again on the West side of the bridge we got our last picture taken with the skyline in the background.
It was an amazing climb with one of the best views in Australia! I was totally happy and overwhelmed at the end of the 3-hour-experience. It was past 10pm and unfortunately my cousine Neio had to work overtime and was too tired to meet me again :-( I decided to spend a little bit more time around Circular Quay.
This is the illuminated Sydney Luna Park on the North side of the harbour.
It was past 11pm when I reached the Opera House Bar where I ordered this South Australian sparkling wine called "Wicked Secrets" to celebrate my absolutely last night in this big big country. Cheers mates!
When I reached my hostel it was midnight and I was in tears. I totally couldn't handle the thought of flying out for good in just a few hours time. I did it anyway. I took a shuttle bus in the early morning through a sunny Sydney, checked into my first flight with Vietnam Airlines to Ho-Chi-Minh-City, Vietnam and as we took off I said my final Good-Bye to Downunder...
My next stop: home!
Yours Sydney-Harbour-Bridge-climbing Stefanie
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Have your say now! Would you do the same thing or would you do it differently? Do you have any travel tipps for me for my onwards travels? let me know!