I had a lesser expectation in my mind of Sydney from the comments from other travellers and Australians. I was going to stay a couple of days and then do a number of days elsewhere but my mind was quickly changed and my feelings for the city heightened with an early taste of local things.
Flying into Sydney you get a feeling straightaway that it is the biggest City in Australia. For the British contingent, it was the first Penal Colony based around the the landings at Botany Bay.
My early assessment of ‘big city’ is based on the fact that I didn’t arrive in a cow shed for a terminal and there was an Airport Train right to my Hotel. There is a ferris wheel at a Fair under the Bridge but that doesn’t count as a ‘South Bank Wheel’, but I will forgive this omission.
It was getting late when I got into the Hotel, so refuelled myself in the Bar and watched Aston Villa v Chelsea live on the TV.
My room was quite spacious which I wasn’t expecting for Sydney. A corner suite with a very large outside window at bath brim level in the bathroom (memories of Delhi) and two large Windows in my Bedroom on either side of the corner, one roughly towards The Sydney Opera House and the other, which looked out onto the City, with a prominent BT logo on one of the large building in the distance. It was Sunday tomorrow so no need for an alarm, the Sunshine can wake me up.
Well the room got lighter in the morning but there was a pea-soup fog over Sydney which made the headline news. Ferries were suspended and you couldn’t see 20 yards. I was located in a series of tall buildings but you wouldn’t have known it. But nothing is forever and by 11.30am the fog was rising and thinning and the brilliant sunshine shone through a beautiful blue sky. As if on cue, the weather had been turned on for the 12th May which was Australia’s Mother’s Day!
I made my way down to the closest harbour which as you approached saw the Sydney Bridge to the left and the Opera House to the right. Ferries were sprinting from the Quayside and the place was buzzing. Aboriginal musicians were panting away on their digeridoo’s to attract the public and a variety of other acts were set up as side shows. I could see this was to be a day of strolling, sipping and watching. And so I did. Venturing first with a walk to the left and under the Bridge. From this side the pictures of the Opera House are only interrupted by the boats coming in and out of the Quay. It is a world icon and seeing it for the first time does give you a feeing of fulfilment. A large International Passenger Terminal was on this side too where all the very large Cruise Ships, like the Queen Mary 2, dock. Some like the Queen Mary are so big that they can’t get under the Sydney Bridge (basically floating villages of 4000 passengers). You do get a feeling of the Titanic, the scene where they are setting off from the dockside. Sadly, there wasn’t a ship in port on sunday.
The picture of the Opera House also attracted lots of photo poses for people who were informally or formally using the back drop. By formally, I mean specifically, Weddings! By coincidence they were all I think Chinese. It was funny to see them queuing up for a specific spot which each photographer thought would be a unique snap. But what a memory at the same time.
As I ambled back towards the other side of the Quay (to get the photo of the Bridge), the tables and chairs were filling along the long quayside with Happy Mothers with their Happy Sons and Daughters. To be honest, I really wanted to be part of it. It was hot, sunny and everyone was well…Happy! So as a stalking intruder, I parked myself at a Bar Stool and sipped a few glasses of Sauvignon Blanc with a bite to eat and just sat and watched. The layers of the backdrop were like painted scenes from a theatre, The Bridge, the Quay and Water, The Boats, the passing public, the Happy Families at the tables and the darting waitresses.
I had stayed around for a couple of hours before making my way up to the Opera House. The white arches looking like a gaggle of nuns in their white habits, very impressive. The view across the water to the Bridge complimented the one in the other direction.
Carrying a ruck sack around with me was getting a bit of a bind, so I quickly headed back to the hotel to stash it and return for another session of watching. On my return to the same restaurant, we British are creatures of habit, surprisingly someone was sitting at ‘my stool’ so I chose another. As I sat two things started simultaneously, on a big TV the Villa v Chelsea game kicked off, without any sound, behind a Singer with an accompanying guitarist who was going to serenade the Mothers. The football was going to be just as agonising the second time around, so I took more notice in the singer. Pretty good, so I was one of a couple that clapped for the first few songs, including an Old Boy about 6 inches away from me. I passed comment about the football and I had to admit I was a Villa fan. He then told me his story. Moving to Australia in 1970 with his two son’s from his home in Fulham he now lives in Sydney. He pointed to one man in front of the singer, “he’s a Chelsea fan” and his second son joined him and said that he was a Man United fan. “Oh and it’s my Grand-daughter who is singing”. The whole family were there to support her, uncles, aunties and cousins. A very pleasant afternoon completed with comical banter about UK and Australia.
Back in the Hotel, the scenic room wasn’t going to work as I realised that 20 feet away was an office block that would also see me waking up to the sunshine, so I had to close the heavy sun blinds for the duration. What a shame but saved me being indicted for exposure.
What a nice opener. My next event that I had arranged was the Sydney Bridge Walk. Although I am not afraid of heights, I do have the occasional dream about falling off buildings (no psycho-analysis please family!!), so was both looking forward to the climb and apprehensive.
I had passed a sign at the base of the Bridge yesterday that said “Unauthorised climbing on the bridge is an offence – Maximum Fine $2200”. For an ‘authorised’ climb you get charged $218, so more economical I thought.
The ‘Climb’ meeting building was in the last bit of brick building of the bridge before the steel work started. I was directed to a waiting area where I was one of 4 people doing the climb. Usually there are 14 people in a guided group and there can be multiple groups following each other. At the time I had chosen we were the only one’s on the bridge which gave the guide, Richard, plenty of time to talk individually with us and lots of stories of the landscape and the celebrities he had guided in his 5000 walks since the ‘walk’ opened in 1998.
There was no scope for error. First we were guided to strip down to the basics (My jeans came off and I just had a shirt on, yes…and underwear), we were then given a lightweight all in one suit. We were each given a breathalyser test (any alcohol means no walk) and told to walk through a metal detector. So nothing in pockets and no watches or bracelets. The locker key was placed around my neck inside the boiler suit. We were then led to an area to tackle up. First there was a safety belt around the waist and tightened. I was thinking, does my bum look small in this? It would be advantageous for the belt to have a large rear. Each item that was then added was double clipped to the clothing so there was no chance of anything dropping off; A handkerchief, A baseball cap (or to be pedantic a Bridge Cap), a Headset and Walkie Talkie receiver, A rain coat (which look suspiciously like a reserve parachute) and finally Sunglass ties.
We were given a test rig to attach our safety clasp to and then asked to climb up and down it, before we were led out to the real thing. Richard the guide was great and gave us perfect tuition and checked understanding. Basically from the next corridor we were attached to a steel wire from start to finish. The most dangerous thing was the climbing and descent of the metal ladders which there were quite a few, to get us to the walkways that led through the structure of the bridge. In a few places you had ‘duck or grouse’ steel works which you quickly learned from.
On the arch of the bridge the metal steps seemed easier to navigator than at Kings Canyon a couple of weeks ago and we had plenty of stop points to take in air and the views. Richard’s narration into our ears of the Bridge, the facts and figures, who built it, who makes the steel etc etc was booming through the headsets, until we got to a few vantage points towards the top. It was a still afternoon and despite the 8 lanes of freeway and 2 train lines below us, we could hear him really well without the headsets and then it seemed more like a conversation. That’s when he told us stories of celebrities like Usain Bolt and Robert de Niro. He also gave us the skyline commentary going 360 degrees to the main points of Sydney. One he pointed to was the blocks of apartments that face the Opera House on the side of the water. He said that when plans for the opera house were being approved a lady in one of the small apartments opposed it on the basis that it would reduce the price of her house. The tiny apartments are now worth $1.4M each.
So after the photo’s at the top, it was down the opposite side of the bridge and back into the main building. A great afternoon and something which will be a lasting memory amongst others in Sydney.
On the morning of the next day, I checked out of my hotel as my original plan was to move out of the city for the last 4 days before flying to Rarotonga, but I changed my plans and intend to now stay in Sydney. I have an Aparthotel, a few hundred yards away, from the afternoon but placed my bags in concierge and headed out for breakfast.
On the first main road I was waiting one side of a pedestrian crossing and spotted on the other side Steve and Marie Turner and daughter Jemma, some friends of mine and the boys went to school with their kids. They live 100 yards from my house. As they looked over I waved and I could see that they were looking away. The lights changed to Green, so they were getting closer, I waved, they looked elsewhere (probably thinking I was one of those pain-in-the-butt street sellers) and they even walked passed me despite me saying hello, until I shouted out, “Marie, it’s Dave!!”. Seeing people out of context is hard and you’re the other side of the world. But this is Sydney and you should be thinking ‘Neighbours’ right? We normally catch up when they are usually walking their dog past my front door. They had flown in that morning for a 2 and half week stay and to catch up with Jemma who has been working in Sydney for 6 months. What a very small world.
And the ApartHotel view is even better, a full view of the Bridge to one side and the Harbour and to the other a full city skyline, which at around 6pm is awesome.
Sydney and its residents are luring me in, rapidly.
Dave's Sabbatical 