The feeling I get here in Sydney is extremely similar to the feeling I get when walking around in downtown San Fran. People don't look at you in the face & seem to walk on by with blinders on. Not as friendly as we're used to in PDX, that's for sure. Of course I could be taking this all out of proportion as there is a pretty big tourist population here & I very well could be talking about a Brit instead of a local.
There is a TV program that is filmed here that seems to be very popular among the locals but even more popular among the British. Next to "Baywatch", "Home & Away" is the next most watched TV program. It is a strange soap opera of sorts which airs at night. Yes, I found myself watching it. As corny as it is, it does keep you wanting to see what happens next. I like it for their accents.
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Today was the big Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb and what a fantastic cool sunny day it was!
The people who put this on are real safety conscience of course. There was a 1 hour training course before we even left the building. To avoid people dropping things from the bridge down onto the cars below, they have you remove every item from your pockets, including ear rings & watches and make you go through a metal detector and take a breath analyzer to ensure you're not drunk.
Then they give a jump suit to put on over your clothes. They offer gloves, hats, fleece jacket, sunglass straps and handkerchiefs for those who want them and they are all tethered to the suit nicely. We also got these cool headsets that transmit the guides voice by micro vibrations through pads placed on your temples instead of speakers over your ears. A unique waist belt was worn which had a cable connecting you to the railing in case of a fall. They thought of everything I tell ya! It was well run, overly safe, organized and a cash cow.
Our guide was chock full of the bridges' history and we had a complete history lesson of the bridge as well as harbor landmarks on our 2 hour journey up & down the bridge suspension system. In reality, it should have taken only 30 minutes to go up and come down but there were about 5 photo opportunities that they wanted to shoot. Mind you this, you weren't allowed to bring anthing on the climb so they had to use their cameras and you guessed it, charge you $16 per photo when you were done.
It was such a clear day with hardly any wind and I did learn a lot so I think that it really was well worth the $160. Now, the $120 I spent in the gift shop before leaving the place is another story! But..you only live once right?
Now, to write my will as tomorrow is the Extreme Shark Dive!
UPDATE: Funny you should ask Perry...there actually was a proposal at the top. The ring of course had to be tethered to the guys wrist in case it were to slip off of her finger..but it was very nice...everyone applauded and ooohhed and awwwed. Then she jumped.
(hahaha just kidding about the jump) :-)
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