Bridge Climb Sydney

Climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge has been on my bucketlist for ages. So when I saw they were celebrating their 21st birthday climbing the bridge for $95, I wanted to try get a ticket for it. The morning they released the tickets, I was in queue for over 2 hours, and had to leave for work so couldn't wait any longer. Lots of people on social media complained, and they asked people to leave their emails to receive another special deal. I left my email, then got a phone call a few weeks later. I didn't bother replying to the call until one week later. Turns out they offered the same price for the people who tried to buy the birthday tickets to any chosen date and time in October - even better! So I booked it on my day off. In hindsight, I forgot to account for daylight savings, as ideally I would've liked to climb during twilight for pretty sunsets. Can't complain since rrp is around $308pp for a day climb, and we were so lucky to have such blue skies and clear views.

If I was a tourist, I would definitely recommend doing this climb. As a local, not really. The views are different up there, but you can imagine what they would look like, especially if you work in a tall building in the CBD, or even when you walk/drive/train it across the bridge. It's like how I paid over $300 for a train ride up the Swiss Alps just to see mountains which are free in nature. The bridge was funded by tax payers and is essentially free to use (apart from driving toll frees), so to climb it and pay that extra money as a tourist for different views, it's worth it.

They have changed the suits and harnesses over the years. We got a full body harness with this bit connected to a wire so you can't overtake the person in front, although it's mainly to attach stuff to you, and not really there to keep you falling off. There were strings and clips to attach: sunglasses, hats, handkerchief, and rain/wind jackets in case you want extra warmth. They also have beanies, gloves and head torches for colder or night climbs. You can't bring anything up there for safety purposes.

You can't actually fall off since there are so many rails and below you is solid, since the bridge is solid steel. The only see through part is coming out from under the building where it starts to connect to the bridge and also crossing from one side to the other at the summit. The see through metal grates is cool since you can see the cars below you from a height of 134m. Things don't appear that small since you're still in relatively close proximity, and you're not actually that high up. It is windy up there, but not to the point where you're getting blown over. I'm so unfit, because 3 days later my calves still ache a bit. The actual climb isn't hard, it's a smooth gradient...just I don't really use my muscles anymore...

Of course, just had to buy some overpriced photos, because I'll probably never climb up again nor have the chance to buy these photos. Good family bonding time with my Mum and brother.

about 1/3 of the way up

at the summit

6 months to go

This year has really flew up. Christmas decorations are already up in shops, and before we know it, it's Christmas. Full time work really does make time pass a lot faster. Each year seems to pass by faster (apart from beginning of 2017 when I had nothing to do except my research project on uni...) I still remember being really depressed about the whole ordeal end of 2016, but time does make things easier. Although I'm still a bit salty about the situation, looking at the bigger picture in hindsight, I just graduated a year behind my original cohort, and at the time also being sad about 'losing one year's worth of income.' In the end, we can't die with our money, and all the 'riches' we earn on Earth is useless in Heaven. The material things we have on Earth isn't ours to begin with, and God didn't call us to chase all the worldly things on Earth.

This brings me to wedding planning. I haven't done anything since 5 months ago. We're at the stage of 'let's get married already' because there are so many details in between to figure out. I know that I shouldn't get caught up in the small details since it's just one day, and it's the days after that matters most. I really don't like how the culture makes it to be 'the best day of your life, so you need the best stuff'. Not gonna lie, it's so hard not to compare to other people. At the end of our lives, God isn't gonna be like 'well done on a well executed picture perfect wedding'. Amidst all the planning and thinking I don't have enough money for 'x,y,z' since I don't have many savings compared to people who graduated a year, or to, or three years ago, I really have to remind myself to take a step back at how blessed I am to even have a wedding in the first place. The money spent on a 'budget' wedding can probably fund a new building at the Indian orphanage we visited earlier this year. It also doesn't help when I see other Christians on social media having such extravagant weddings...I still get confused about all this, but everyone has different priorities in their life/when planning a wedding. I'm thankful for our pastor preparing weekly 'marriage counselling' sessions to really understand what the meaning of marriage is as a Christian. Something that you build together to strengthen and deepen the relationship everyday.

I'm the type to freak out if something doesn't go according to plan on the day. Things will probably go wrong on the day, but I need to remind myself it doesn't matter. It's the days after which matter more.

So what do on my days off? Currently dealing with home insurance since April. Nothing has progressed, and it involves hourly phone calls each week. Makes me think do I really need to live in a house? So many things can break and home insurance is so annoying to deal with, and also expensive to insure and purchase a house in the first place. Living in an apartment reduces the amount of space you have, but there's strata to fix stuff, then I don't want to live in a dodgy apartment which hasn't been built properly...like the poor residents of the Mascot Building and Opal Towers who for some owners, put their life savings in it and their investment has literally crumbled...Just like weddings, at the end we can't take our house into heaven, and we don't die with it...just temporary on earth, so I shouldn't be so caught up and emotionally anguished by house insurance claims and making us paying for extra repairs...