Rain rain go away…come back another day

Wednesday 20th December

OMG its pissing it down with rain, it feels like winter, have i woken up in London? Rain crashing down on my door, is someone trying to break in? Blissful sleep though and free breakfast this morning, consisting of small buffet style, and ample supplies of toast, all i wanted was toast, toast toast toast and tea. Today i was to do something that I missed out on some 5 years ago – the Sydney Harbour bridge climb, one of my ambitions. I was dreading going up in the pouring rain but luckily it eased off as I caught the ferry 2 minutes to circular quay and wandered around for a while before making my way to the climb centre. The climb was definately an experience of a lifetime, fantastic. It took a while for the induction, getting geared up, we all looked like spacemen, (Bowie song at the ready). Although it was still a little cloudy the climb was magnificent, up ladders and many steps for panaromic views of the harbour. A little windy but this made it more refreshing. There were ample photo stops taken by the leader only (no cameras, watches or anything else dangly were allowed they even provided scrunchies for those of us with long hair) At the top of the bridge we admired the view, although it was a shame there were not blue skies all around it was still a fantastic experience which i would recommend to anyone to do who is reasonably fit. Each Climber receives a complimentary group photograph at the end (wooohoo!) plus other photographs can be purchased after the Climb. I bought a couple of myself but they are on disk and my PC has no CD rom. I also received the commemorative personalised Climber Certificate (another wooohoo!) I did really feel woohoo’d when I had returned though. Brilliant! I was citied out after Hong Kong so avoided the main drag instead took a walk around circular quay and through the botonic gardens which was very refreshing, included in my journey was a proper cup of tea, some english guy infront of me also purchasing a pot of tea, see us english like our tea. Due to having been here before I had seen much of Sydney before, so after a brief wander around I was to head back to the accomodation, anyhow it was pissing it down again so best home and dry. I was enjoying the peace and tranquility of the guesthouse, watching TV with a couple of others (cricket doco amongst other stuff given it was the Ashes) whilist drinking tea – of course. What i have noticed is that the austrlaians dont go big on christmas decorations, no lights, just the odd christmas tree here and there. Quite refreshing really. The guesthouse had a tree in the corner and a bit of tinsle but its not quite as in your face as in the UK. It doesnt feel as commercial which I like the feeling of, though it doesnt feel christmasy either!