Monday 17th March

Daniel woke up at 7am and tried to wake Lisa up but she decided to snooze till 7.30am as she knew that we had plenty of time!

We both got our hiking shoes out and wore them instead of flip flops. Lisa was worried cos she always get blisters with them! It was very busy on the tubes and we managed to get to the bridge climb by 9:15am. We checked in and we were asked if we would like to do the climb at 9:35am instead of 9:55am which we were happy to accept.

While we were waiting, we were watching the video of the safety preparations for the climb. We were then called in at 9:35am along with others. We had to fill in the decelaration form and slipped into the overalls, ensuring that we weren't wearing any loose items and the camera weren't allowed unfortunately. We then told the guy that we are deaf. We were concerned on how we would lipread the guide while climbing the bridge. Everyone would have the headphones to listen to the guide.

We were then introduced to the another guy who was going to lead us on the bridge. He was informed about our deafness and he was happy enough to ensure that we were happy and followed what he was saying. He was very lively and expressive which was perfect for us to understand. We were at the front of the group too. We were also given the headphones which had T-Loop system fitted in. It worked well for Lisa's aid but unfortunately it didn't work for Daniel, but he managed to understand him without it anyway. The only annoying thing about the T-Loop system was that when the guide was talking privately to us, he switched it off so others don't hear what he was saying to us. It meant that Lisa had to switch her aid back and forth few times!!

Oh we were also concerned with the weather as it was very cloudy and it was looking as it would rain! We were about to prepare to pack the raincoats till at the last min, we were informed that we didn't need it now that the clouds have gone! Phew!

We setted off and started to climb up. We were wondering how we would be able to lipread the guide till we stopped. The guide just simply turned around, making sure that we could lipread and then he started to talk about the history of the bridge. We were following him just nicely. He just made the whole experience fun and interesting. We had photos taken during our climb. We then walked to the highest point of the bridge and then across the bridge before coming down again. Overall it took 3.5 hours to do the experience.

At the bottom of the climb, we applaused ourselves that we were back on the ground safely with our guide kissing the ground! Daniel then made the remark that he could be kissing where they had dog poo on it!! Yew! It was a joke by the way!

We got changed and left the feedback before purchasing photos of our climb. It was early afternoon by the time we finally came out. Lisa was struggling to walk as the trainers were giving her blisters. We decided to go back to the hostel so she can get rid of her trainers and changed into comfortable flip flops. We also popped over to the supermarkets to stock up on drinks.

We then had very late lunch and quickly went on the internet. For the rest of the day, we just chilled out in the room, updating the diary/photos. For the evening, we are hoping to chill out in the tv lounge.

Tomorrow, we have got the Opera House Tour to do and possibly visit the Royal Botanic Gardens in the afternoon. Only 2 days left before flying out to South Africa.