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The port of Sydney was originally founded in 1788 as a penal colony, initiating Britain’s settlement of Australia. Today, Sydney is Australia’s most populated city, as well as the capital of the state of New South Wales.
We have two days and a rare overnight in Sydney. Even better, for our first day we are docked in Circular Quay, right next to Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. It is a prime position, usually reserved for larger cruise ships. (We will move from Circular Quay at 11:30 tonight.)
Sydney Harbour Bridge, built between 1923-1932, is the tallest steel arch bridge in the world. It was also the world’s widest long-span bridge until 2012. Last year, Russell purchased a private excursion to walk on top of Sydney Harbour Bridge. This year, he was thrilled to get the Sydney Bridge Climb again, this time as an escort for the Viking excursion.
The excursion met at 7:15 am for the first climb of the day. The one-hour onsite preparation process is thorough and foolproof. You are given a full jumpsuit and harness. You are connected to a saety cable the entire time you are on the bridge. You are not allowed to carry anything on your person – no watch, cell phone, keys, etc. (They cannot risk something falling onto a car or pedestrian.) You go through a metal detector to make sure. You get a baseball cap that is connected to your jumpsuit with a string. If you wear glasses, they are connected to your jumpsuit with a string. Finally, you are given a wireless intercom receiver and headphones (also connected to your jumpsuit with a string.)
The scariest part is the beginning, when you walk along a narrow girder to get to the bridge tower. You then climb about five flights of narrow ladder stairs. You actually ascend between two lanes of traffic. Once you are on top of the bridge’s arch, you walk on a wide lane that feels very safe and comfortable. You walk all the way to the center of the arch, 440 feet above sea level. Your informative guide, who provides commentary all the way through, takes photos of you. You then descend back the way you came. You spend about 1.5 hours “climbing” the bridge.
We had beautiful, ideal weather, and Russell thoroughly enjoyed his return adventure. Gail stayed aboard ship, where she stood on the back deck and took photos.
In the afternoon, we walked through the weekend street market at The Rocks, the oldest part of Sydney.
But the best was yet to come. We toyed with the idea of having dinner in town at a rooftop café overlooking Sydney Harbour. But we realized that the ship itself had the best view in town, so we ate on the Aquavit Terrace outside of the World Café. At 9:00 pm, we were treated to a spectacular fireworks show. This is only done on Saturday nights. The combination of our having a Saturday overnight and being docked at Circular Quay was pure serendipity. Tonight is easily one of the highlights of our world cruise so far.
