Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge

I was a tourist in Sydney recently. Over the June long weekend a friend and myself had a girls weekend. We both had not been to Sydney for a long time, for me it was over 10 years and that weekend I was thinking "why has it taken me so long to come back to see this city?". I should never have left it so long. We had a great time. I wanted this to be an adventure not necessarily a weekend of shopping (Don't get me wrong I love shopping!!) Yes we had a adventure.

I had made up my mind that I was to climb the "Sydney Harbour Bridge" many people I knew had done it. My friend was not to accompany me as she had knee surgery the year before and was not up for it. Leading up to that weekend I kept checking the forecast, being June is the start of winter I really did not want to climb when it was windy and rainy. Unfortunately the climb goes ahead regardless of the weather conditions except for "electrical storms". Leading up to that weekend I had was in full force with running on the treadmill. The day before we leaving I woke up with a very sore ankle. I thought to myself " am I going to be able to climb the bridge?, of course I will, I will soldier on through the pain"

When we arrived at the Bridge Office, wow what a sight to see all the photos of the celebrities that had done the climb, it was very exciting to be there. Even more exciting that we stepped out of the Shangri-La Hotel and strolled down the street to the Bridge Climb office. ( I will do another post on the Shangri-La and its amazing views)
In the end my friend was so excited to be with me when I was checking in for the climb that she joined me as well.

What I must let you know, is you are unable to take a camera with you, as you cannot have anything apart from the suit that you must wear. Photos are taken by the group leader and you can purchase.

The experience was amazing, the weather was cool approx 17c and breezy, the whole process takes 3.5 hours, this includes check in, orientation, preparation with your suit and equipment and training. The actual climb itself is approx 1.5hours. Your are fitted with a head set so you can hear the guide. There are some high ladders to climb. There is cabling all long the bridge which you are attached to and can move freely. Once you are up on the bridge you cannot come down until you finish.

So if you have the urge to "pee and need a toilet stop" It ain't going to happen, you need to hoooooooooold on. So I made sure I had not had too many liquid drinks or eat heavy, you get my drift??

It was an amazing experience and I would like to climb at night to get a fantastic view of the city and Sydney Harbour all lit up. Looked amazing in the photos.

We checked in at 12.30 and didn't finish by 3.45pm. Lets just sat we were "knackered" Aussie phrase for exhausted. My ankle was throbbing but I didn't care.

The photo has been taken by me, I zoomed in on the bridge summit, you can see bridge climbers. I love love love that shot. I was at the Sydney Opera house which is directly opposite the bridge. This photo makes me feel very patriotic. The bridge, such an Australian landmark and the flags. I was thrilled with the photo. Everyone who has seen it loves it.
Click on the photo to see a larger view

check out the actual website to get a taste of the experience

www.bridgeclimb.com

So if any of you are planning to visit Sydney, I highly recommend this.
I will post more on the trip to Sydney

Travel Tales

I love travelling...the excitement of planning a trip, what to do where to go.I tend to plan my trips about a month before I plan to go on leave. Not like 12 months or 6 months.
Of course if its heading overseas the only thing I don't like is the 20+hours to get there, hanging around Singapore airport for like some 6 hours for a connecting flight to Europe.
In the late 80s I travelled with my father and my brother to Greece for the very first time. First time for my dad who had not returned back to his homeland since he had migrated to Australia in the early 60s.I have so many memories of this trip. I want to share some.

The plan for this trip was to visit my dads family in Athens, " the Village" in Arkadia, see my grandparents, uncles and aunts. Also to do a few days to my mums village which was on the other side of the mountain in the region of Lakonia.
I can remember the very long drive from Athens to the village it took a very long time over 6 hours I think, not like now its only a few hours.
So we get to the village, lets just say, my brother and I thought it was primative and we knew we couldn't last there long. We soon discovered the only milk was from a goat, not milk in a bottle. I could just read my brothers mind..."f..k we aren't staying here for a week...2 days & we are out of here...I'm heading to the islands ASAP" he said. I looked at him and said "mmm don't think that's going to happen, dad hasn't been back for over 20 years and you want to leave after 2 days".
We lasted a week then we hit the islands.

The second time back to the village on that trip,we made sure we stopped at a local store. We stocked up on supplies. That register just keep ticking over. What didn't we buy, biscuits, salami, quick, milk and other goodies that we could survive on. I can remember the look on my grandmothers face when I stocked her cupboards with stuff she had never seen and probably would never see. "ti eine afta edo pou ehis feri" (sorry about greekenglish).

The plan on this trip was to go to Turkey, we had gone to the island of Chios, got a boat from there to either Izmir and then on to Cezmir or vice versa can't remember.
We got there, we were on the hunt to buy leather items. That was the rage back then.
I can remember wanting to buy some black leather pants. Unfortunately I was wearing jeans, it was hot, sticky, I couldn't get my jeans off to try the leather pants.
I remember the Turkish man who spoke Greek tugging at my jeans to pull them down. "Oh my god".. im like "WTF"..it was hilarious. Lets just say i didn't want to put the leather pants on after that, because that meant he'd have to pull the leather pants off as well.. I just said to him.."thats ok...i don't like the leather pants" I didn't even try them on.

We spent 7 weeks in Greece and I cherish all those memories. I can remember so much like it was yesterday.

So if there are people reading my blog, tell me about your travel tales. I have more and will post later on. (I nearly drowned white water rafting in Austria, nearly threw up at the Colosseum in Rome, locked out of my room in Hawaii)

Dancing down the aisle

Don't know if you have seen this video footage that has been going around the world thanks to YouTube. I just think this so cool, such a different way of celebrating..
Can you imagine dancing down the aisle at a Greek Orthodox wedding?.

so any way enjoy this... its a very happy fun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

Technology update

Surfing the net has a whole new meaning to it, in fact 31000 years

If you spent one minute reading every single website there is, it would take you
31000 years (with out any sleep)

how big is the internet?

mmm I love the internet, but I love my sleep more!!!!!!


Remember the Sony Walkman?? Well its turning 30

check out the link below of the different Sony Walkmans

walkman turns 30


click on the links for more

Travelling by the stars

Most people love to travel, visit a new destination a country. Me, any excuse to pack my bags and jump on a plane.

Have you ever heard of Astrocartography?
It's the astrological science of studying how a person's life can completely change depending on where on the earth they are located.

How it works

Using an individual's birth chart, astrocartography maps the places on the earth where the planets occupied powerful positions at the moment of birth. Astrocartography is really based on the idea of what if you'd been born at that moment in time, but over the other side of the world?

Did you know countries have star signs, I didn't. Apparently the star sign is determined by when the country was discovered.

So check out below, does your star sign match your favourite countries?

• Aries: England, Germany, Israel and the Netherlands
• Gemini: Belgium, Iceland and Wales
• Taurus: Ireland, Switzerland and Cyprus
• Cancer: USA, New Zealand and Scotland
• Leo: France, Italy, Indonesia and Romania
• Virgo: Brazil, Turkey, Uruguay and Greece
• Libra: Argentina, Austria and Japan
• Scorpio: Norway, Korea, Syria and Morocco
• Sagittarius: Chile, Hungary, South Africa, Singapore and Spain
• Capricorn: India, Mexico, Bosnia and Lithuania
• Aquarius: Finland, Sweden, Iran, Russia and Ethiopia
• Pisces: Egypt, Portugal and Samoa

There are a lot of countries not listed..this is just a guide

Something about nothing and more

So why have I called my blog "Something about nothing and more".. I suppose what I wish this blog to be about is along the same lines as what the tv comedy "Seinfeld" was about. It was a "show about nothing". I loved that tv series, everything that happened on that show was just ordinary things that happen to everyday people but it was funny.

So why am I writing a blog?
I have read a few and I have some in my bookmarks.
Having spent a rainy Sunday afternoon online I stumbled across "bollybutton". The title of her blog was what caught my eye. So I spent the afternoon skimming through her posts.
A few days later going back to the beginning of her blog. I found that we had a lot in common but for different reasons. Her experiences of life in Athens as Asian and a foreigner, I was reading this but I could see me in her. I have been to Greece three times in my life and yet her struggles with the language and just doing simple everyday things I could very much relate to.
I also volunteered at the Athens Olympics, though I did not meet my own Mr Zeus, would have like to.

So I plan on writing some of my favourite memories of spending holiday time in Greece to begin with, my travel experiences and who knows what else.
:-)