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February 17, 2024
Sydney, Australia: Harbour Bridge Climb


We have begun the next sector of our world cruise. While most of the current lecturers remain onboard, we are also welcoming three new lecturers and a craft instructor

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.)


Our rare docking location at Circular Quay gave us a spectacular view and proximity to Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House

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.


Gail was amazingly able to photograph Russell and his group climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge. In the photo on the right, Russell is second from the right on top of the arch.


Russell with Sydney Harbour in the background, and at the very top center of the arch (Note the strap connecting his harness to a safety cable near his right hip)


Proof and a souvenir

In the afternoon, we walked through the weekend street market at The Rocks, the oldest part of Sydney.


The street market at The Rocks


At the street market, we bought a bag of caramel Lokma (Turkish doughnuts). They taste just as good as they look.


Touring Sydney Harbour Bridge (note the Viking Neptune) and the Sydney Opera House

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.



Sydney Harbour at day and night


What could be better than this spectacular view from the Aquavit Terrace?


Fireworks!

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