The Sydney Harbour Bridge turns 75

There were huge celebrations for the Bridge's 75th anniversary on Sunday. The bridge was closed to vehicles for the event and over 215000 people walked across it spread across the 6 lanes.

My sister was part of the organizing committee and she got us passes to the opening ceremony. It was still dark when we left the house at a quarter past 6 in the morning. We caught the train from Wahroonga arriving at North Sydney around 7am where we picked up our free fluoro yellow-green hats and where breakfast was provided also free of charge. There was hot tea and coffee, orange juice, water and mini muffins. There were even wait staffs who meandered through the crowd offering muffins on silver platters. I must say, I wasn't expecting such good service.^^

At around 8am we were all rounded up for the start of the walk to the Bridge. The Opening took place at the northern end with the Governor of NSW Marie Bashir, Premier of NSW Morris Iemma, Lord Mayor of Sydney and the Mayor of North Sydney making up the official party. The national anthem was sung by Jessica Mauboy from Australian Idol and the Sydney Harbour Bridge Choir who were dressed in the theme colours of the Bridge's 75th anniversary event. Very bright and colourful.

During the ribbon cutting and the start of the bridge crossing, a recording of the Our Bridge Overture, composed especially for the occasion by Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin and performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, reverberated from the towering stacks of massive speakers. Everyone around me were snapping photos and having a good time. I loved it: the soundscape, the atmosphere, the wind chimes marking the end of the bridge walk. It was amazing. Well organised too. Good job peoples! (^o^)//
There was plenty of entertainment at Darling Harbour, the Rocks, Circular Quay...We turned off at Sydney Observatory for their Open Day event, rested a while on Observatory Hill, then head toward The Rocks for lunch. The restaurants and cafes were packed so we bought some quiche take-away, picked out a spot on the grass area west of the Quay and ate there. We were very lucky with the weather. It was overcast, with misty rain on and off, all day. Nevertheless, I still got slightly sunburned. Good thing I put sunscreen on my face in the morning.

Late afternoon we caught the train back to the northern side of the harbour and walked to Bradfield Park where the vintage car show was held. We got there just as the car owners were getting ready to leave, but I still had enough time to take some photos.
After an early dinner at a nearby Thai diner, we took a quick nap before setting off for the 7:30 walk Dad had originally registered us for. The evening hats were bright orange with a small LED light on the front. It was great looking back and seeing the thousands of little lights approaching. The evening bridge walk had more of a party atmosphere, perhaps because there were more teenager and young adults in that session. There were also numerous keen cameramen snapping shots of the Bridge which was bathed in blue, orange, pink, yellow and white lighting. I too took lots of photos throughout the day. It was interesting seeing the Bridge from a different angle. From the middle of the road where cars, buses and trucks are usually doing 70km/h. Driving across at that speed, you're on the other side within a couple of minutes. No time to admire the engineering marvel. Apparently, the life span of the bridge is 300 years.
I still remember the days when it cost only 50 cents to cross the Bridge. (For those of you who don't know, the toll has since risen to $3. And the Sydney Harbour Tunnel has provided an alternative route across the harbour since its completion in 1992, also costing $3. Unlike Japan and perhaps other places, you only need to pay going from North to South. The return trip is toll-free.)
More photos here