Oh what a fantastic couple of days!!!
On Monday, we headed over to Manly, a nice seaside town where we went to Ocean World, where...(don’t have a heart attack please Nanny!) ...
I DIVED WITH SHARKS!!!!
Oh it was so cool 
After a rather stressful debacle which involved putting on a wetsuit, we went thru the obligatory training (breathing, clearing our masks etc) before heading into the calmer, non-shark filled part of the tank. Its a little odd, as u are carrying soooo much weight on ur weight belt, u can’t inflate ur jacket and ur not wearing fins. This is because the tank is actually rather small (poor sharks) and only 3m deep. After we got used to walking around, we headed into the area where, according to our dive master, there were 'bloody great sharks'. In fact, they were a lot bigger than they looked from the other side of the tank...3.5m long, and about 1m from under belly to tip of dorsal fin. There were also ray fish, one of which was the size of a coffee table, and also a sea turtle, but he kept his distance the entire dive. Shame. We all hopped up onto the ledge next to the tunnel, so we were leaning on the top of the tunnel. Good view of all the sharks, and the people below us in the tunnel. The sharks were really not bothered by us, so they came right up close! One swam over me, and was so close; his bottom fin brushed the top of my head. I, however, was oblivious until the dive master started snapping away with his camera. I got some good pics, both bought from them and Rachael took some from inside the tunnel. There are even a couple of movie clips with the sharks swimming behind me Although they look really menacing tho, because they are Grey Nurse Sharks, they are completely harmless. They have the wrong type of teeth to bite/chew anything, and therefore, unless we'd fit in their mouth whole, they wldnt even attempt to eat us! Phew! Got a free t-shirt too, saying 'I dived and survived!' in pink, yay!
The next day, was just as big an event...the BRIDGECLIMB!!!!!!!!
About 3.30, we started our preparation for the climb. Brownish jumpsuits and waterproof trousers first, followed by harnesses, fleeces and raincoats in pouches, gloves, hankies, headlamp and headset so we cld hear the guide. Everything had to be clipped on, so we even had to wear strings attaching our glasses. Funky. Then there was a trial climb to get us used to the safety harness, which runs along a static cable the entire length of ur climb.
After all that, we made our way out onto the bridge.
At first, the walk was quite narrow and slippery due to the rain, but once we got up the ladders (lots of vertical ladders that went up between 2 lanes of speedy road traffic...talk about jelly legs!) it all opened up. The view was amazing! As we were doing a twilight climb, we started the climb in daylight, experienced sunset (tho was a little too cloudy to be dramatic) at the top, then it was dark and all lit up on the way down. Got some good photos too. As u weren’t allowed to take ur camera up for safety reasons, u had to buy them. I got the complimentary group photo at the summit, one of meeeee with the opera house behind me (tis a nice one) and one of Rachael and I with the CBD all lit up and pretty behind us on the way back down. Was rather exhausting, especially the first stage of the climb, but well worth it. The rain even managed to hold off, so despite it chucking it down before the climb, we stayed nice and dry the whole time, with a nice clear view. Simply fantastic!!!
This is my last day in Sydney now, as I am to get the Oz Experience bus tomorrow morning (6.30am!!). Went to the Powerhouse Museum this morning, and omg it was dull. Displays of apples and magnets etc. Quite a few of the exhibits were interactive, but like the things we did in Science at school. The fun bit, science at play (various toys!) was full of rude school kids, which we actually had to fight with to use the exhibits. uggh. After a much needed coffee and quiche, with a rather amusing seagull repeatedly falling in the bin (this is how bored we were!) we caught the monorail into town. I did a quick full circuit, before coming here, the State Library to use the internet. It’s freeeeee. And I've only figured this out on my last day. Typical!
Anyway, best go. Am so incredibly worn out and have a stupidly early start tomorrow. And laundry needs doing. Fun fun fun!
