As many of us fear…I too, am afraid of heights. I’ve tried to confront it by Skydiving in Hawaii, Ziplining in Costa Rica, even lived on the 15th floor of a Condo but never stood out on the balcony, afraid the railing would break and I may fall. I don’t know where this fear of heights came from. I suppose some of us are just born this way???? On my trip to Australia, after a couple of months of persuasion, I finally convinced my friend Shelley to climb the Harbor Bridge.

Here we are… we made it. From below the Sydney Harbor Bridge looked enormous…what did I get myself into? If I hadn’t alread prepaid, I think I would’ve reconsidered.

Well, we flew thousands of miles to get to Australia, I may as well have a memorable experience!

It was only a 10 minute walk away from our hotel and we are here! Here is one of the walls of fame, where pictures of celebrities who have climbed this bridge are featured.

As my friend Shelley and I were standing in line, we were greeted by Trent, the manager who is the most hospitable, joyful, energetic, charismatic gentleman! He was a riot and immediately made us feel welcome, suddenly putting my anxiety at ease.. at least for the moment.

We got suited up and are ready to go… Shelley is practicing her Kangaroo pose? I don’t know…

And… we are here… at the top. It was exhilirating and the view… breathtaking.

I was relieved to be safe on the ground. It took about 3 hours for the entire climb. At the end, we were unexpectedly greeted by Trent again with goody bags, as he jokingly told us we were selected as “Climbers of the Week!” HAHA!

The staff were all wonderful!

 

All I knew was I deserved a treat so we decided to head over to one of the restaurants along the harbor and ended up at Wolfies. It was recommended by our hotel concierge.

It’s definitely time for some refreshments. Shelley ordered a selection of beers and me, of course my champagne…

I knew I wanted to try Kangaroo meat while in Australia so was happy to find a combo of Kangarood meat and Crocodile tail on the menu. I was advised to make sure to order the meat medium rare, as it can get tough if over-cooked. It is very lean, high in protein and tasty! They served it with vegamite butter.

Shelley ordered Pizza with Tapenade which was also excellent!

I am now calm and content with all the spirits and excellent food. We had the most splendid server to make our dining experience that much better!

We kept talking about Trent who truly made our experience unforgettable and decided we would go back the next day to give him a goody bag of our own to thank him for his hospitality. I truly believe he was surprised and happy. In fact, he even said he wore the little backpack around work all day even with all the teasing his co-workers gave him. Even if he didn’t, it really is something he would so, he’s such character! He is truly remarkable. I realize sometimes it’s not WHERE you travel to but the people you meet during your travels that really makes everything such a truly amazing experience.

I have to confess, I still have my fear of heights… I decided I would simply accept that is a part of me. It’s okay, because through this, I was able to have another simply wonderful journey of meeting special people and enjoying some amazing food!

I am grateful to Trent for being so awesome and I’m thankful to my friend Shelley who was a great sport in agreeing to walk the the Harbor Bridge!

CHEERS!