Bondi Beach, Olympic Park, and Bridge Climb

Sydney Marriott Hotel-  First of all let me start by saying it is 6 am here on Sunday and I am up to try to watch the Wisconsin vs. Ohio St. game because this hotel has ESPN.  The bad news is it is Australian ESPN so I am watching a random soccer game currently.  Also tried streaming it online but apparently that is blocked for some reason…just wanted everyone to be warned of my mood while writing.  April, if you want me to pay to be able to listen to the radio broadcast don’t say anything….YES! (not actually going to pull the trigger on that one though)

Anyway we’ve had a busy couple days in Sydney.  Our first full day was forecasted to be the best weather so we headed to Bondi Beach.  That is the other famous beach here and it did not disappoint.  Much like Manly Beach, Bondi is huge and beautiful as I guess most beaches are as long as it is hot and sunny.  There is also a walking path connecting Bondi to a couple smaller beaches so we checked that out and were very impressed.  No volleyball on this beach though so after a couple hours we did head back to Manly to check that out again.

My stomach and chest are already tan enough so that is why I am wearing a T shirt :)

The following day we took a ferry to the Sydney Olympic Park where the 2000 summer games were held.  (Badgers down 15 I should really just go back to bed) We were told it is a strange place to go because it is this huge area but hardly anyone is around.  When we arrived we did get that feeling a little bit but because it was a Saturday there were a few more activities.

One thing going on was the New South Wales State Swimming Championships at the Aquatic Centre.  The Aquatic Centre is the one building that I really remembered from watching those games because if I remember right it was an open air building.  Now either I was wrong or they just had it closed up because the weather was not great but it definitely was not open air on this day.  It was still a very cool building though and felt very Olympic if that makes any sense.  The swim meet was on a break so we didn’t see any live action but did see some results posted. (New South Wales is an Australian state so I would compare this to the WIAA State Championships if I was going to guess…the only problem with that assumption was that Japan was winning in the standings.  So pretty confused because if Japan ever wins a WIAA title I think Wisconsin is having problems.)

We also checked out the other buildings like the Tennis Centre, Field Hockey, and several other stadiums we couldn’t figure out a purpose for.   (13-0 run for the Badgers…glad I stayed up…also hate just watching score updates online…have no idea how things are actually going) The Tennis Centre had a lot of kids doing lessons and one of the other buildings had gymnastics going on so it seems like the buildings are being put to good use.

That night we had signed up to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge (ok I lied earlier when I said we didn’t have anymore death defying activities).  Pictures I’ve seen make the bridge seem a decent distance away from the iconic Opera House but really they are just about on top of each other so we knew it would be an amazing view from the top.  Luckily the rain stopped in time for us to do the climb and it was clear enough that we didn’t miss out on any of the views.  We did the night climb so the city was lit up as well as the Opera House and it really was worth doing.  Once we reached the top of the bridge the whole group is supposed to yell "Sydney" but our tour guide said he would let one of us pick what was said...so the entire 7:45 pm bridge climb group yelled "Packers!" once we reached the top.  I'm going to stick with thinking that it was the first time that had been yelled from the bridge.

3 for the tie!!!  Ok I’m going into full game mode now so might add more after it’s over…Nankovil for 2 and the lead!  Back and very excited…should have bought the online radio thing but oh well.  Should be a great last day after that!