the rocks – Sydney Aaliyah Michelle

I did it and I lived to talk about it (post about it).

Definitely the highlight of my trip was doing the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb. It was way more amazing then I even imagined it would be.

We had a great guide named Richard who had a million great stories. Our safety guys name was Rhys who was super sweet.

Point of no return!

Here are some of the photos we got from the climb. They wouldn’t let us take a camera so we are stuck with their photos. But, I understand why. If I had my own camera the climb would have taken all day. There was so many great views from up there.

I covered just over 1 mile going up and down; 1,400 steps. We were rigged up like sky divers and constantly clipped into a safety line that runs the entire length of the climb. It was perfectly safe. The views were just breath taking. I am so happy I got a chance to experience this. It is truly why I love traveling and experiencing new things.

Next time, I am doing the climb at night.

I have decided that if (when) I move to Sydney Australia, I will have to live in the area known as The Rocks (TR).

The Rocks is a small, eclectic, fashionable, mysterious, touristy, but charming little neighbored just next to the City (what they call Downtown Sydney).

It reminds me of The French Quarter (FQ) in New Orleans and Georgetown (GT) in Washington, DC . I went to college in New Orleans and although I wanted to, my parents were not about to let a young impressional 18 year old live in the Quarter. What could I do, they were paying the bills. For law school, I lived in DC, but for practical and cost reasons again I didn’t get the chance to live in my dream neighborhood.

I just love these small eclectic areas of town that although they are frequented by tourist, they don’t loose their charm.

All these areas have the following in common (FQ, GT, TR):

1st floor old and new retail/restaurants and bars (Ralph Lauren next to an art gallery that has been there for 100 years)
2nd floor apartments/condos w/balconies (in the quarter, they are still reasonable, in GT and TR, pretty expensive)
alley ways that have the coolest shops (Alley Cat Jazz, Blue Note Club, I will find out tonight)
Wine bars/coffee shops (not Starbucks)/brewhouses
tourist shops
One great breakfast spot – (Clover Street Grill, Peacock Cafe, Pancakes on the Rocks)

Allow me the pause here parenthetical to extol the greatness of Pancakes on the Rocks. Any place that serves ice cream with pancakes is greatness in my book. Please don’t drool on your keyboard.