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 :) 

Some neat flat doors in The Rocks.

The Pub we were at on New Years.

Hey we climbed that!! 

To finish off a beautiful sunny day we took the ferry to Manly and laid on the beach until the sunset.

This is the Prime Minister's house in Sydney. Ironically enough there is a cannon under the Sydney Bridge aimed directly at it...

This used to be a place for prisoners but is now a restaurant/cafe that is also rented out for private functions.

Hunter Valley Wine Region... YES PLEASE!! And Newcastle too!

For Easter long weekend we took off to the Hunter Valley Area for some rest, relaxation and adventures!

On the first night we drove to Wollongong to see our friend Nic and had a great dinner and a few drinks catching up! The next morning we headed to Newcastle; it was +34 degrees and a beautiful day. 

THE EPIC SNAKE ADVENTURE

We were really lucky to have made a friend to stay with while we there. Andrew and his wife Penny did an exchange a few years ago and opened their home to us for the weekend. On the way home from Andrew's school, he mentioned that we were going to go see a friend of his who had some snakes. Now if you know me at all, you know that I AM PETRIFIED OF SNAKES! I mean I was the girl who hid behind her Mom at the John Jansen Nature center when I was kid and they only passed around snake skins and salamanders. I am mostly sure there were tears and screaming as well. So off to the snake house we went!! 

Now, I can tell you about the snake house, I can tell you that is was actually a separate house for snakes, that there was 153 snakes in the house, that there was a room where rats and mice are bred for the snakes but you have NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS LIKE! (Excuse my huge run-on sentence but come on I basically walked into my worst nightmare and lived). 

Anyhow we get into the house, and then Adam and Andrew are asked to come outside and move the cars. So now I AM IN THE SNAKE HOUSE ALL ALONE with the snake breeder. Conversationally I say, "This actually isn't too bad with all the snakes behind the glass." (Keep in mind it took me about five minutes to even walk into the house.) I am sure you could smell my fear (or sweat?), and the snake breeder said "Oh they aren't too bad" and then took out THE BIGGEST SNAKE HE HAD THERE! It was MASSIVE and I was ALL ALONE. I almost died. I starting backing up to get away from the giant snake. I backed up right into the "kitchen" of the house. It seemed safe, until I noted all the plastic bins (they are more drawers than bins cause they don't really have lids) that housed all the brand new BABY SNAKES! Hilarious now, and yes even a bit hilarious then too! 

The snake breeder actually taught us a lot about the snakes and the different types he had etc. It was actually pretty interesting and helped me be a bit less afraid. It was amazing that he let us come see the snakes and he was really good about my lil (okay big) freak outs while we were there. 

Adam holding one part of a snake... I did pet it. Pretty impressed with myself, look at me being all brave and stuff! 

 Surprisingly enough, I felt a bit more comfortable around them as time went on. I wasn't ready to hold em but I managed to be a bit less jumpy and I learned a ton.

Some of the snakes in cages.

A cool lizard they also had there. Her skin looks like little shingles and she was really cool.

They also had around 200 birds that they breed on the property as well. I have never seen so many different sizes, colors or types of birds in my life! They were really cool. 

WINE TOUR DAY!

The next morning we headed out on a wine tour of Hunter Valley. It was an amazing day; we saw five wineries and our guide was also a wine maker and he did a great job touring us around and teaching us about the region.

Today we visited:

1. Ironbark Hill: They had a great Merlot and a Cab-Sauv we really liked.

2. Travertine: Formerly Centurion Wines, a very cool winery.

3. Blue Tongue Brewery: They brew beer here and we had a taster paddle and some great wood-fired pizzas for lunch.

4. Blueberry Hills

5. Macguariedale Hill

6. Smelly Cheese Shop: Tasted a few cheeses and looked around.

7. Chocolate Shop: Tasted a bunch of chocolates. YUM! Great end to a great day:) 

MARCH 30: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!! 

For Adam's birthday we planned a great day full of some of his favorite things! In the morning we went to a couple malls in Newcastle and then we spent the afternoon at the beach in the sun! When the sun went down we went to the Honeysuckle Hotel for appies and drinks. It was a great pub and the food was amazing! Afterwards we headed to Potter's Brewery in Cessnock and had dinner with a friend from work. 

The Honeysuckle Hotel

Back to the wine region!! 

On Sunday we decided to go back to Hunter Valley to visit a few wineries we wanted to see and a few recommended to us by friends and our tour guide from Friday. 

We visited: 

1.Tyrell's

2. Tempus Two: A big winery on a beautiful piece of land.

3. McGuigan's

4. Brokenwood:

5. Tramburlaine

6. Tulloch

It was another great day! In total we ended up with 16 bottles of wine. The Hunter Valley was great! 

To finish off the weekend we went to our first NRL game in Newcastle. We watched the Newcastle Knights beat the Canberra Raiders from the Hillside. You pay for a spot on the grass and you can bring in blankets and food and just chill out. It was awesome!

We had a great weekend and made some great new friends in Andrew and Penny. They even helped the Easter bunny find us at their home :)

WE MADE IT! ~Our trek to Oz's highest point Mt. Kosciuszko

Mount Kosciuszko

One brisk February morning we set out to "climb" Mt Kozi; it is Australia's highest point at 2,228 metres. We did the Summit walk from Charlotte's Pass which is an 18km round trip walk. Armed with snacks, sandwiches, water and LOLLIES we headed out with our awesome neighbours and a few of their friends! 

The Mountainside

A foggy but beautiful morning. 

Halfway there, time for a snack!! 

When we reached the top it was foggy, I mean really foggy! You could not see ANYTHING. The winds were blowing at 60km/hr and so we planned for some quick pictures and to get outta there. We have a ton of super windy, funny closed eyes pictures from those first few minutes. While we were taking this picture, the wind picked up even more... and the fog parted.

The view it revealed was truly breathtaking. It was incredible, magical even. Somebody up there must like us :) Hi Big Guy!!

Shortly after the fog returned and we got ready to start the trek back!

 

We made it! This is right before our 9km walk back. What a great day!