Australia Trip (Day 8)

Day 8: Sunday, January 1

New Year’s Day run, Bridge Climb

I slept in a bit before heading out on my traditional New Year’s Day run. I headed down Macquarie Street towards the Opera House and was amazed to see how much of the city had already been cleaned up and put back in order after the NYE festivities. However, I couldn’t access the far point around the Opera House, so I turned instead towards the harbor-front path that abuts the Botanical Gardens and eventually wound my way through the Gardens and back to the hotel. I finished up my workout in the weight room of the Livingwell Club before rousing Mr. E so that we could make it to the Exec Lounge before the end of breakfast. We ended up sitting next to a local Aussie couple whose daughter had given them a holiday gift of two nights at the Hilton. They originally thought we were Canadian, based on our speech patterns, and once they learned that we live in California, the conversation turned to politics and the recent election results.

We had decided the evening before that we’d return to explore the Observatory, as we didn’t have quite enough time during NYE since the building was only open for a couple of hours. The displays and exhibits are fascinating, and we were there in time to see the “ball drop” at the top of the building. 

This is a daily occurrence to precisely mark the 1pm time. We encountered again one of the very friendly staff with whom we’d chatted during the NYE event, and Mr. E also got some of his questions about Pluto answered by another very helpful staff member.

Our next appointment was a 1:45pm Bridge Climb on the Harbor Bridge. We were a bit concerned about the weather, as rain had been in the forecast for several days, but the overcast skies and slightly cooler temperatures were actually quite welcome. The Bridge Climb experience lasts for about 3.5 hours, including almost one hour at the beginning to get appropriately suited up and go through the safety procedures and climb simulation. Our fabulous Climb Leader, Tatiana, was friendly, helpful, and enthusiastic. We started off along the horizontal catwalk, climbed up four ladders, and then hiked up to the summit of the top arch, stopping four times along the way for group and individual photo opportunities. 

Through our headsets, we received instructions from Tatiana as well as lots of interesting information about the history and building of the Bridge. We did get a wee bit of precipitation as we neared the summit, but the weather didn’t at all spoil the true awesomeness of the views out over the Harbor.

By the time we finished, changed back into our clothes, bought our photos, and shopped for some souvenirs, we were ready to head back to the hotel and get off our feet for a while. Oh – we also saw one of our fellow Hunter Valley tour members getting ready for his Climb as we completed our wrap-up process. Small city!

We had enough time to catch the tail end of the evening reception in the Exec Lounge, where we re-encountered the Aussie couple from breakfast, who invited us to join them. So we spent the next couple of hours chatting with and getting to know Deirdre "Dee" and Kym, adding another set of new Aussie acquaintances to our memories of this trip.