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Most people want to hit me over the head when I tell them I only allotted 6 days to Australia, but can I just say- I agree! One day when I have more time and money, I will dedicate at least 6 months or a year to this big island, but for this trip it must remain as a stopover to New Zealand. Luckily I managed to cram in a few irreplacable events in my Ozzy days, starting in Brisbane.

A few days in Australia...

Coffeecat
2005-12-24 18:19:32

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the sights, I dug out my waterproof and circled the sights to see on the map. So what has Sydney got to offer? What hasn't it? It's a naturally beautiful modern city set amongst many bays of the harbour. I spoke to an old family friend that urged me to check out the beaches in Manly, and had the sun been out, I most certainly would have explored this and the famous Bondi Beach. But the wet skies kept me near the shops in 'The Rocks'. The buildings here have survived the last 100 years of expansion all around them resulting in Victorian charms poking out of the rooftops. After touring through the shops, past the Opera House arches and under the
Harbour Bridge, the pages of my book and the visualization of soaking in the rooftop jacuzzi drew me back to the hostel. Yat another day is gone.

For my final day in what most people assume to be Australia's capital, (it's actually Canberra) I had to sort a few ticket issues out with my travel agent. A very boring few hours confirming dates etc. for the second leg of this 12 month tour. The day had cleared up a bit so I searched the pamphlets for action options for the afternoon. Hhhhhhhhhmmmmmmm, what might be a unique and exhilerating option to make up for a couple of dreary days? Seeing a photo of a few famous faces climbing over the arch of Sydney Harbour Bridge was enough for me. Afternoon action was born.

Arriving out of breath and with hot rubber under my soles, I slipped into the back of the group to listen to the instructions being given. A little regretful that I cooked with the extra garlic cloves the night before, I then had to blow my sweet breath into a breathalizer machine. I suppose having a drunk on the top of the bridge is definitly a bad idea, so
I shared Brighton Beach with just a few others
I didn't complain. I then had to strip down and jump into some sexy blue overalls, the kind that I thought I had left with the electricians from my past. And then to top it off, I had to walk through a metal detector so they could be sure I wasn't hiding any electrical equipment in my pants. (CAMERA'S are not allowed, what were you thinking I had to hide!!) For fear of anything dropping on people or cars below, I even had a hair scrunchi taken away from me! They gave me another one that actually clipped onto my dungarees. We then locked into the track that runs along the entire walkway ensuring that we didn't decide to take a giant leap of faith. It's a great system, and hearing the story of the man who started the company was quite inspiring. He spent 12 years working a way around all of the reasons he was told he couldn't do it, thus I got to climb to the top of the largest steel arch bridge in the world. The views were of course spectacular, the climb was in fact very easy. There were a couple of surprise views for

me, as I hadn't expected to poke my head over the top of a ladder and find myself between lanes 7 and 8 of oncoming traffic! On the way back down one of the ladders I was also passed by a commuter train. The historical commentary from our guide was entertaining, I think there were only 15 people that died in building the bridge back in 1932. Bizarre how I seem to remember the death statistics! All in all it was well worth the $$ and a great way to kill my last afternoon in Australia.

But it's time to pack up again, this time bound for Christchurch on the eastcoast of New Zealand's south island. Five weeks in one country is definitly a record for me, but there is a lot I'm looking forward to experiencing in "KiwiLand". (and I'm sure they all hate me calling it that, so apologies ahead of time!!)