1/4

Our second to last day in Sydney. Scott, Brett, and Kathy did the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge climb http://www.bridgeclimb.com. They really climbed to the top of the bridge! Will and I just happened to be crossing the bridge when they were climbing and saw them do most of it. It was a beautiful sunny day to be on top of Australia. We met them after the climb at the Pub to celebrate. We had a yummy dinner down at the Harbor and then stopped by Molly Malone's Pub on the way home. Quite a fun day.

Tomorrow we are going to try to squeeze in one more thing before we head to the airport. Hard to believe the big trip is over.

1/3

After sleeping in this morning, we went over to the Sydney Aquarium. They have some great exhibits where you are walking under the big fish tanks and can see sharks, rays, dugongs, and many more swimming around you. They also had a Great Barrier Reef exhibit which was fun to see since we had just been there a few weeks ago. Oh, yes, and the cute, little penguins that are native to Southern Australia.

Then we headed to the Sydney Tower where you can go up to the observation deck – kind of like the Space Needle. Great surround views of the city. Then we walked over to another famous landmark – Harry’s, famous for their meat pies. Quite tasty. We walked home from there, probably logging about 5 miles total.

1/2

We headed out to a farm today to see sheep shearing and sheep herding. They also had more koalas and kangaroos – we even saw a mommy kanga with a baby (joey) in her pouch. They did not make Ugg’s from the wool on the premises but I’ve seen them in many stores around Sydney. Hmmm.

On the way back, we stopped at the Sydney Olympic Park (from the 2000 summer games) and got to swim in the pool at the aquatic center. OK, 50 meters is much longer than our Yost 25 yards! After a few lengths you get used to it. The boys and MJ swam a bunch of laps. The boys did a 200 IM. It was pretty fun. We also got to see the medal podiums they used for the games.

1/1/2009

Happy New Year!

Sydney knows how to bring in the new year. Thousands of people line the shores and wait for the fireworks. They have 2 shows, one at 9pm and the main event at midnight. I took a lot of photos, but I don't think they will truly show how impressive the fireworks were.

After sleeping in, we took a ferry to Manly Beach. It was very crowded.

12/31

Brett, Will, and an old friend.

After the ride, nice hair!

The boat.

Spent the day in Darling Harbour in Sydney. Went to the Powerhouse Museum. It was the original power station for Sydney. The major attraction was the new Star Wars exhibit. Scott and the boys then went for a jet boat ride around the harbor. Back to Kathy's for the big New Year's Eve celebration.

12/30

Drove from Bellingen back to Sydney. Stopped along the way at a little beach town called Bonny Hills. Swam and ate lunch. Made it back to Kathy's at 6pm.