Milsons Point and The Harbour Bridge

Much cooler day today, only twenty two degrees.  After a leisurely sleep in I took a ferry out to Milson's Point.  I walked around Lavender Bay and checked out Wendy Whiteley's Secret Garden.  This was a derelict park for awhile, filled with remnants of old train cars.  Local artist Wendy Whiteley took it's clean up on as a personal project, turning it into a nicely landscaped garden, and it is now a relaxing spot for locals to sit and enjoy the view.

 From here I walked back to Milsons Point, the start of the norther approach to the Harbour Bridge.

This park sits on land where homes were demolished in the 1920s to make way for the bridge

 Onto the bridge.  Talk about building a bridge to connect Sydney's north and south sides began in 1815, however nothing got further then that till the 1910s.  There was a competition held between several design companies to decide what the bridge would look like.  In the end the "coat hanger" design won.  Building of the bridge didn't begin till 1923 and was completed in 1932 and employed many Sydneysiders during the Great Depression.  It was built to hold six lanes of traffic, tram and train lines and pedestrian pathways on both sides.  On March 19, 1932 the bridge was officially opened.  There was a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate.  The ribbon was to be cut by the NSW premier, however before he got a chance a random military guy rode in on horse and slashed it with a sword.  The ribbon was retied and the premier cut it again as planned.  In 1998 the BridgeClimb was opened and in 1993 New Years Eve fireworks began being shot off the bridge.  Other fun facts- Crocodile Dundee actor Paul Hogan worked as a painter on the bridge before becoming famous.  Can you imagine how long it takes to refresh the paint on this baby?

Little windy up here.  My self photo didn't turn out as well as planned.

Thanks random stranger for a bit better shot.

There are many of these locks along the bridge.  Couples will put them here to cement their love.

 

Speaking of bridges, I will be back at this one in ten days!

High Level Bridge, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada