The next day I walked to Circular Quay (a good 25 minute walk from the hotel) and wandered through The Rocks before heading over to the Sydney Harbor Bridge. I had thought about doing the bridge climb where visitors have an opportunity to climb to the top of the bridge, but when I read in the brochure that climbers were not allowed to bring cameras I decided it wasn’t worth the A$155 if I couldn’t take pictures of my adventure climb. However, according to the brochure, at the conclusion of the climb, climbers would receive a complimentary group photo. Climbers could also PURCHASE other pictures of their climb taken by bridge climb personnel. I decided to walk the bridge instead and visit the Pylon Lookout, a viewing area 292 feet above the water atop one of the pylons on the southeast side of the bridge. Unfortunately, The Pylon did not open until 10AM. It was only 9AM at the time and I didn’t want to waste an hour waiting for the attraction to open. So, I ended up just taking some pictures from the span of the bridge. Even the views of the harbor from the span were magnificent. I trekked back to Circular Quay and boarded a ferry for Manly Beach. The cost to ride the ferry through beautiful Sydney Harbor was just a few A$. The harbor, Sydney Bridge, and Opera House were just as I had remembered them from my visit fourteen years ago.

After about 35 minutes the ferry docked at Manly Harbor. I disembarked from the boat and wandered through the streets of Manly as I headed towards the beach. On this beautiful warm day I spent the next three hours strolling along the well manicured beach soaking up the sun and talking with the locals. I trekked along the trail (to the right of the main street through Manly) along the coast for a few miles and was rewarded with some spectacular views of the ocean and coast. In the early afternoon I headed back to downtown Sydney on the ferry and once again committed to memory the beauty of this fine harbor. After disembarking from the boat I headed towards the Pitt Street Mall where I did some shopping and enjoyed the street performers. The best street performance was a petite young lady who managed to stuff herself into an acrylic box maybe the size of two desk sized trash cans. Amazing! The worst performance was an older “gentleman” (and I use that term loosely) who appeared to be somewhat intoxicated and was singing country music (at least I think it was country music) while banging on a plastic bucket. Watching the faces of passers-by, I think we were all thinking the same thing. If we each made a little contribution, maybe he would feel compelled to cease and desist! I then headed back to the hotel via Darling Harbor where I stopped for coffee and strolled through some of the shops along the promenade. Later I was treated to an Australian barbeque at the home of some friends, after which I headed back to the hotel for some sleep before my early morning departure to Hobart.

I didn’t realize this trip report had gotten so long. I apologize if I’ve been too verbose. I welcome comments from you readers. I’ll hold off on the rest of the report (Hobart, Melbourne, The Great Ocean Road, Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington, and Christchurch) until I hear from all of you whether I should continue in this format or instead present a more condensed, “Readers Digest” version without all the commentary. Thanks for reading and allowing me to share my experiences with all of you!