Today, AW and BS had scheduled a “day of rest”. This was of course a good plan, unless you were pushing yourself to a self-destructive limit (averaging 22,000+ steps a day in scorching weather for instance).
So I went out!
I wanted to walk the bridge again. The above shot (can you tell I love the panoramic mode my new camera has?) was taken from near circular quay (the main ferry dock for Sydney). After the photo I walked through The Rocks toward the bridge. It was early – 9:30 or so – but already very hot. Even so, considering it is Saturday, a lot of people were out and about. I made it to the bridge in short order and started the crossing, with my first goal the southeastern pylon – which is the big concrete tower visible to the left of the main span in the above image. The pylon is hollow and has a lookout at the top. For A$9.50 you can climb the 220 stairs to the top (be aware the interior of the unairconditioned pylon is like an oven) and get some spectacular views. It was from this lookout this image was taken:
So yes, it was worth it!
A couple of other random bridge shots:
Here’s a shot looking north over the bridge from the lookout:
The weather looks ominous doesn’t it? Well thats an illusion, because at that point it wasn’t.
I then crossed the bridge itself and about a twenty minutes later reached the north shore. The bridge was covered in small round pieces of cardboard left from the fireworks yesterday, and all the rigging and equipment for the display was still there. It was beastly hot and humid, but there were many, many people doing the crossing today. Here’s a shot of the bridge from the north, looking back towards the Sydney CBD. The toilets are still there from New Year’s:
Next I hopped onto a ferry and headed over to Darling Harbour to go to the Maritime Museum, specifically to see a new exhibit on mythical creatures. Of course I had to stop for lunch first!
I didn’t actually buy any Fairy Floss… that photo is just there so the American readers can chuckle at what we call cotton candy! Incidentally I didn’t eat alone… Jabba the Jabiru kept me company:
That’s a jabiru, who walked into the food court at the Darling Harbour mall. He just kept walking in circles around my table, so close I could easily touch him. We quickly became fast friends, and out of respect for this friendship (and his health) I fed him nothing. He understood, and graciously thanked me.
The mythic creature exhibit was small but high on interesting content, especially the mermaid section. I recommend it if you are in Sydney and it is still on 🙂
Both the above objects are originals. The rightmost is from a US ship (it is a carving of a mermaid for the front of the ship) and the leftmost is a ‘Fiji Mermaid’. In fact it may be the very same mermaid Barnum used to dupe punters out of their money. Google the name for the details.
When I emerged from the museum it was raining torrentially. I was very tired at this point (maybe I should have taken that rest day) so returned home for an afternoon of eating, drinking, TV watching and MTG playing.
[I overdid the Lift today. One 600 mL bottle, two 450 mL bottles, two 375 mL cans and a 1.25 L bottle. That makes my total 11.25 L!]