My pasty ass made it one full day without getting sunburned. After a morning at Bondi Beach, I was a healthy shade of pink, and I had no regrets about it. The spot lived up to expectations, with white sand, blue waves, and no trash to be seen. Clean beaches are apparently a signature Australian sight, as there’s a strong anti-littering culture throughout the country. We couldn’t spend more than a couple hours at Bondi, because that afternoon we had a date with the Sydney Harbour Bridge, specifically the very top of it.
The bridge is 134 meters (about 440 feet) tall, and I’m not a fan of heights. However, after chickening out of climbing the New River Gorge Bridge, I was determined not to let my fear get to me. There are two main options for seeing the Harbour from the bridge: you can walk across the flat part like a normal person (only about 50 meters above the water) or, for the people who don’t value their lives, you can go to the very, very top of the bridge. We did the latter.
Of course you’re strapped into a harness, and it’s very safe, but the less logical part of my brain wasn’t so sure about that. My legs shook quite a bit during the parts when I needed them to work the most (climbing up and down some ladders, etc.), but of course the view made me glad I did it. It’s a great way to see Sydney and learn about its history, and you get some pretty cool photos out of it.
Loose articles are absolutely prohibited. This is because the Sydney Harbour Bridge is a bridge and there are cars and pedestrians going across it. A cell phone dropped from 275 feet above you becomes a pretty dangerous projectile, and a seemly harmless bucket hat can become distracting if it lands on your windshield. However, BridgeClimb provides straps for your sunglasses and special baseball caps that can be attached to your harness because, and I cannot stress this enough, the sun is ruthless in Australia.
The climb took a whole afternoon, and by the end we were ready for a classic Aussie pint. We were in bed by 8 pm.
We spent G’day 3 at the Taronga Zoo, which is accessible from the southern side of the Harbour via a ferry. We had a behind-the-scenes tour with a keeper named Heather, who was passionate about preserving environmental diversity. She explained that Australia is home to countless ecosystems that are completely different from anything else on the globe. Our understanding of these ecosystems is often less than comprehensive. Koalas are a great example of this. Especially in light of the recent bush fires, there have been lots of videos circulating around the internet of koalas being rescued and rehabilitated. However, koalas need somewhere to go once they’re all better, and it’s not as simple as plopping them into a eucalyptus tree. Koalas are very particular about the types of eucalyptus leaves they can eat, so they move from tree to tree looking for leaves with just the right oil content. A koala that can’t move from tree to tree must travel on the ground, making them vulnerable to attacks from invasive predators like dogs and foxes. Koalas thrive in large, continuous groves of trees where they can search for yummy leaves in safety.
There are countless variables that go into preserving a species like the koala, and sometimes saving the animal itself is only a tiny part of the battle. What Heather said about comprehensive conservation really stuck with me. It seems like a necessity if we want to ensure the long-term survival of the species we’re trying to protect.
And koalas are so worth protecting! I was always aware that they were cute, but seeing them in person was a whole new experience. They’re unbelievable. What gave them the right to be this cute? After visiting them, I have a theory that Baby Yoda’s design was inspired by a baby koala. Here’s my evidence:
a starfish bish 