She and Sills : Back to Sydney...

Here is a bit more of Sydney...

We crossed a band of my bucket list and saw The Counting Crows. The BEST part was we got to see them perform in The Sydney Opera House. It was an amazing experience. The Main Hall has seats that are made so that the acoustics are the same regardless of the number of people in the seats. It is a small intimate venue and the sound was incredible. They even serve the drinks in glassware that you can carry into the hall with you. We loved everything about the night: the sound was great, our seats were amazing and the Counting Crows were epic.

OUR GREAT SEATS!

The Main Concert Hall

Setlist:
1. Sullivan Street
2. Untitled(Love Song) ~ Great Cover!
3. High Life ~Awesome!!
4. Four Days
5. Hospital
6. Colorblind
7. Four White Stallions
8. Friend of the Devil (Cover)
9. Catapault
10. Recovering the Satellites
11.Round Here ~Unbelievable version! Epic!
12. When I dream of Michelangelo
13. Big Yellow Taxi (Cover)
14. Time and Time Again
15. Goodnight LA
16. A Long December ~Epic!
17. You ain't going nowhere (Cover)
18. Rain King
ENCORE
19. Washington Square
20. Hanging Around ~Awesome!
21. Holiday in Spain

*A great Setlist but you are probably all thinking what I did... where the heck is Mr Jones????*

We also hit the Sydney Aquarium in Darling Harbour as well. It was AWESOME! Adam thinks it is the best aquarium he has ever been to. Some of our fav's include...

Adam's Favs:

1. Fish with Glowing Eyes: Their eyes glowed green in their black tanks.

2. Dugong: Related to Manatees.. very cool creatures.

3. Walk through SHARK tanks.

She's Fav's:

1. Fish with Glowing Eyes: Come on they were really cool!

2. Crab Tanks: We saw a crab that was over 6ft wide and like 5ft tall. It was insane!!

3. Blue Penguins and the Walk through tanks as well.

AND THEN IT WAS TIME.....

THE SYDNEY BRIDGE CLIMB!!!!

Adam's parents and sister and brother-in-law got us gift certificates to climb the Sydney Bridge for Christmas. We are so GLAD they go them for us:) When we arrived they got us all suited up in jumpsuits, fleeces, hats, hats, hankerchiefs, lights and headphones. We went through some practice ladders and ramps and were ready to go!

Our tour guide Billy was THE BEST! He was originally from the UK, and works in television and movies now. He is a guide part time and had heaps of great stories and facts! They helped keep me from being too scared :)

We walked through the Bridge Pylon. An interesting concrete creation with wood, rocks etc in the walls; they used whatever they had to construct it. There even used to be a boot in the wall that was cut perfectly in half but some fool pulled it out (and was fined hugely for defacing the pylon). We patted the granite, wished for luck and headed out to 4 of the scariest ladders I have ever seen. The 4th one was especially scary because you are straight above the road, you cannot see anything around you but the cars underneath (gulp).

However, after you get off the ladders, you forget about being scared, about the heights and you are just amazed. We had a twilight climb so we got to watch the sunset (it only takes like 90 seconds from the top of the horizon to being gone), and walk down in the last of the light of day and beginning of night.

Our guide told us lots of interesting stories about the Bridge in terms of its history, and stories of celebs on the Bridge Walk as well.

The Bridge took 7 years and 356 days to complete.
It saved the economy by providing part time jobs that helped families live (although it was a very dangerous job and children as young as 16 were given positions)
Surprisingly (due to the lack of rope, harnesses, or safety gear of any kind), only 5 people died in the making of the bridge.
The last man to fall off the bridge fell 63m. Right before he hit the water he dropped his tool belt to break his fall. When they pulled him out of the water his boots were split and pulled up around his thighs. He broke a few ribs, had a few bruises and was back at work within 5 days.
The Park Hyatt Hotel (which you can get a beautiful view of while on the Bridge Climb) has the rooftop pool where Rod Stewart was caught cheating on his wife Rachel Hunter with Penny Lancaster. Rod revealed this to his tour guide while climbing the bridge, noting that the Paparazzi who took the photo was on the bridge when he got the shot.
Matt Damon and Robert De Niro were two celebrities who did not expect the star treatment and who just jumped on a regular climb with other tourists. Other celebrities have been known to be more particular (snobby), demanding the Bridge be shut down for them to do the climb.
2.9 million people have climbed the Sydney Bridge.

After our climb, we hit Lord Nelson's Hotel in The Rocks. It is Sydney's first hotel and also has a great microbrewery. A great end to a great day.

The next day...

With your Sydney Bridge Climb you also get a free pass to the Pylon on the Bridge to walk up and get an amazing view of Sydney Harbour while also learning more about the history of the Bridge. If you can't do the Bridge Climb, this is a must do!! We wandered around the Rocks, and took some pictures of places we hadn't seen before and took a bunch more shots up on the Pylon :)