Bridge Climb


This was probably one of the best things I did in Sydney!
I was so torn about the decision of going or not just because it is so expensive and thought of all the good things I could do with the money but at the end The Climb was the once in a lifetime experience  that money could buy me in Sydney so I decided to go for it.

Pictures I took of people climbing the bridge:



Then my Climb begins...
What a great view!!! :)

My guide loved the arms up in the air picture! haha
 The whole group
The whole experience lasted 31/2 hours and it was actually pretty awesome! It was super easy to climb and slow paced so everybody could enjoy the view. We got a lot of the history about the bridge and the way it was built!
When the bridge was built there were no harnesses or any safety equipment that would keep the workers safe so the workers never knew if they would make it home that day.
The coolest part about the walk is that you are actually walking in the Sydney Harbour Bridge! The views are amazing and it is such a unique experience that I tried to enjoy every second of it!
We were lucky enough to get an amazing sunset as well. The sky turned pink purpleish and set by the blue mountains... it was breathtakingly beautiful!

Pylon Lookout
The pylon Lookout is one of the towers and you can actually walk up for only $13 and have a great view of the bridge, the opera house, and the other side of the city.

This is how they would hang when building the bridge!

While at the Pylon lookout I met a women whose daughter was climbing the bridge for her birthday and she decided to come up and see if she could spot her going up the bridge (we totally did!)
We talked for a while and told me about moving to Australia and about her daughter, I just really treasure moments like those when all of a sudden you make a random connection and start talking and sharing with a total stranger.

Milson's Point

So after the bridge climb I walked the bridge and met my friend Simon and his girlfriend for dinner. After eating we walked down to the water with beautiful views of Sydney.


I used them both for models in my pictures and tried to get a little artsy with it! haha


and of course I had to go back to see the view during the day!




Fish Market
So I heard the Fish Market was awesome in Sydney but I found it to be very boring and not interesting at all. Yes! they do sell a massive amount of fish and seafood but that is it.
I am not like a super duper big fan of seafood (unless there is nothing else available) so I didn't even try any of the food. So many things were covered in cheese that I didn't see the point of eating seafood when you can't actually taste anything but cheese!
Also, a very very very touristy place, you won't see any locals in there. It was 99.8% Asian tour buses and a Salvadorian.










Whale Watching
I saw on groupon a whale watching tour for $35 and I decided to take it and see if we spotted any whales. We left Darling Harbour at 12:30pm for a 3hour whale watching tour that ended up being 5 hours long!
I think at the beginning we couldn't find any whales because they were very far out and had to go for more than an hour and a half to find them. Once we spotted them it was so magical! These creatures are just so huge!!! The guide said they like the attention and are very curious and if we made a lot of noise they would come towards the boat and so we did!

Sydney from far away!

The view on our way with the sun setting made the trip even better!




Newtown
There is this neighborhood in Sydney called Newtown that is a mix of the new hip Mission meet Haight street. I had a lovely time walking around, looking at street art and at their beautiful old buildings.
The streets were filled with Antique shops, super cool and modern hair salons and barber shops, super hip restaurants,

So many antique stores!

While walking in a little alley I noticed a truck that said "Lentils and anything, vegan catering" and I remembered that a friend had mentioned it to me before.
So... this restaurant is PAY AS YOU WISH... basically it is free and you donate however much you think the food was worth to you. Their idea is that nobody should go hungry and their restaurant is open for anybody who is hungry regardless if they can pay for the food or not. By having customers pay for meals they are able to cover their costs and offer free meals to those who really don't have anything to eat... how cool is that?!?!
The restaurant is also run by volunteers! There is no paid staff (maybe except the cook!?!?) and when I came in they had live music, also volunteers! I loved it!





Museum of Contemporary Art
On my last day I visited the museum of Contemporary Art that had some pretty great modern art. Every city that I go I try to go to the modern art museum since it's pretty much the only kind of art I really enjoy.




This one below was my favorite...  the exposition was about immigrants traveling from northern Africa and the Middle East to Europe. You could put on one of the headphones and listen to their story while they drew on a map their journey and narrated what they did and how they survived. The stories were very moving but really showed their determination and survival against difficult circumstance.



While I was in this room a woman entered and started singing Opera... What a great way to end my last day in Sydney!



I can't believe it's already been 6 weeks since I left home and I somehow have managed to survive, to maintain (somehow) a budget, and have not even once gotten sick! No Bali belly for me! Yeay!
Now I can't wait to go Japan and see my dear friend Kay say "I do!"