Jim Down Under
From: Jhalpert
Sent: June 13, 2006 3:36 PM
To: Pbeesly
Mscott
Jporter
Jlevenson
Pkristoph
Subject: Hello from Sydney!
Hello to everybody from Australia! I just wanted you all to know that I have arrived safely and am having a great time so far. The weather has been pretty bad, but I’m not letting it affect my plans. Yesterday I did the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb…it was totally amazing. We weren’t allowed to bring cameras up there, but they took a couple of photos, which I will send.
Today I went to Manly Beach, but am not quite ready to try surfing just yet.
I’ll talk to you all soon, and try not to work too hard.
Jim Halpert
From: Jhalpert
Sent: June 13, 2006 4:03 PM
To: JWilson
Subject: Sydney Day 4
Hey sisteriffic!
How’s it going? I heard that you were PO’d that I hadn’t e-mailed you from Australia. You know that you’re my favorite sister, and I would never neglect you, but you also know that I’ve got to write to my girl. So what do you all think of Pam…she’s great, right?
That e-mail from Davie was amazing…I didn’t know he could do that! He must get his brains from Ted. Ow...I felt that! Hey…I met a brother and sister here from London, though the brother’s been living in Australia for years. Anyway...the two of them insult each other even worse than we do, in the most colorful language. I should take notes so that I have some fun new things to call you when I get home, and you start acting like the boss of me as usual.
So, how are you feeling? Have you found out the baby’s sex yet? And more importantly, are you going to tell us, or keep us in suspense like with Davie?
How are Mom and Dad? Guess what? You can tell Mom that I saw Russell Crowe’s 12 million dollar apartment, in a renovated wharf and I got a good look at Nicole Kidman’s new apartment right on Sydney Harbor, also. She wasn’t home, though. Or at least she had her blinds closed. Yep...that’s me...the Sydney Harbor Bridge stalker!
The bridge climb was incredible. I’m going to write it up in more detail for Pam and I will CC you, okay? This is for Davie.
HEY DAVIE,
YESTERDAY I CLIMBED A BIG BRIDGE. IT WAS SCARY, BUT FUN. TODAY I WENT TO THE BEACH, AND TOMORROW I’M GOING TO A WILDLIFE CENTER TO SEE SOME REAL KANGAROOS AND KOALA BEARS. I WISH I COULD BRING YOU HOME A REAL KANGAROO BUT THEY WON’T LET ME. BUT I’LL FIND A SPECIAL TOY KANGAROO JUST FOR YOU, OKAY? BE GOOD, AND LET MOMMY GET SOME REST.
LOVE, UNCLE JIM
I sent him a postcard, also. I’ll talk to you soon. Love to Ted.
Jim
From: Jhalpert
Sent: June 13, 2006 5:02 PM
To: Pbeesly
Subject: Sydney Day 4
Dear Pam,
Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to write yesterday. It was a crazy day. Whew! I have finally sent out my postcards, and e-mailed my sister and some of the people from work, and now I can relax with a cup of tea that I made in my room, and some Tim Tams, which are absolutely the best cookie ever invented, and tell you all about my incredible adventure.
I had planned to meet Colin, George and Grace downstairs for breakfast at 7:00 AM. First of all, I have to say a word about the breakfasts here. I get a full breakfast included every morning, and by full, they aren’t kidding. I may never be content with a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and a piece of toast again. They have scrambled eggs, incredible bacon, sausage, mushrooms and grilled tomatoes, plus pancakes and cereal, fresh fruit, croissants, Danish pastries, yogurt...you name it. There is also some thin white stuff that looks like cream of wheat, but is actually Congee. George told me that it’s Chinese rice porridge and there are pickle-y type condiments to put in it. I haven’t tried it yet, but I plan to, one of these days. There is also vegemite, for those of us brave souls who wish to spread it on toast. I tried it, and the best thing I can say is that it tastes very healthy. I mean, you know it has to be good for you with a taste like that!
Anyway, I came downstairs to the restaurant and it was absolutely pouring down rain outside! The weather forecast had called for occasional showers, not monsoons! The restaurant has a glassed in terrace, and water was running down the glass walls in sheets. Colin and Grace came down full of unquotable comments about the "bloody, sodding" weather. Then George came down with more of the same. But what could we do? The climb is rain or shine and we’d already paid.
We had to be there a half-hour early for our 8:45 appointment, so we arrived a little after 8. We were put together in groups of 12, and our group consisted of the four of us, four Chorus people from an LA group called Windsong, (known by their nametags) and four Aussies from Brisbane. In the lobby there is wall full of signed photos of celebrities who have done the climb, and signed jerseys from various sports teams. Just think...I am following in the footsteps of Anna Nicole Smith! At 8:45, we went into a little room where we were shown a video about what to expect, and a little history of the bridge. Then we went into another room where we were given our uniforms to put on. You could put them over your clothing, but the guides said it might actually be too hot, and we were sent into changing cubicles. We had to remove all watches, large hoop earrings, etc…anything, which might come loose and kill somebody on the ground, and put them in a locker with a key that went around our necks. We had also been requested to wear rubber-soled shoes or sneakers.
The uniforms were gray and blue Star Trek type jump suits that zipped up the back. Over that we put protective waterproof pants. I was thankful that I had taken off my jeans, since the waterproof pants were really warm. Next we had to step into these Batman like utility belts, which were attached with a kind of cable and roller mechanism to metal tracks along the wall. We had to pull the rollers along with us until we reached the end of the track, at which time we had to grab the roller to keep it from swinging free and whacking us in the balls. (As our guides, Mick and Brian, were quick to warn us about) We then hooked the roller onto our utility belts. We were issued a waterproof jacket in a pouch, which was clipped onto one side of our belt, and a warm jacket in a pouch, which was clipped onto the other side of our belt. We were given a knit cap and a baseball cap, again clipped to our jump suits. The most useful thing we got was a blue handkerchief on an elastic band to put around our wrist and wrap around and tuck into our sleeve. Dressed, we were given a practice run at the series of four ladders that we would have to climb one person at a time. It was fairly easy climbing to a scaffold that was about 10 feet off the ground. I wasn’t too sure how it would be when we got to the real thing. Then we were issued earphones, which attached around our heads with Velcro, so that we could hear Mick, and were attached to a radio transmitter, which went into a pocket at the back of our utility belt. The whole outfit, as bizarre as it was, was designed so that you could add or subtract layers without detaching anything from your suit. I swear, I was totally channeling Dwight at that moment...it was just so COOL!
At this time, our little troupe was led outside to the bridge itself. Incredibly, the rain had totally stopped, and the sun was shining! We walked a few yards and climbed some stairs, which led to some wooden pathways leading to the bridge. At the stairs, our rollers were slid onto the end of a track, like the one in the dressing room, so that we were now attached to the railing with an extremely secure looking cable. I was excited, but really not afraid at all. It seemed very safe. We had Mick in front of us, and Brian behind us, and Mick was giving us a running commentary, explaining all about the structure of the bridge, and the history of the bridge climb, which is totally owned and operated by a private firm.
We had now arrived at the infamous ladders. Not only were we climbing straight up, but we would be popping up, like prairie dogs, between two lanes of traffic on the bridge! Anyway, it wasn’t too bad. I just kept my eyes on the ladder, and took my time. The hard part was the platforms between ladders where you had to skootch sideways to get to the next ladder, all the time keeping your roller from getting hung up on the track. As we got to the top of the ladders, I could really feel the wind, but I had no need to put on either of my jackets. I did put on my knit cap with the baseball cap on top. A very attractive look, I’m sure.
Now we were at the arch of the bridge and we had to walk up a series of metal stairs. It was a good workout, but not too hard. Now we could really see Sydney Harbor. The wind was making my nose run, so that handkerchief really came in handy. Mick was pointing out all of the sights, including the opera house and the Sydney skyline, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe’s apartments, not to mention the homes of the Prime Minister and the Royal Governor of Australia. It was just gorgeous. The weather could not have been better. At the very top of the bridge, they took pictures of the whole group and individually. We got a free group picture with our admission, but you know that everybody was going to spring for the individual ones.
Then it was time to walk down. Everything was fine until I got to that set of ladders going down this time. This time there was a train rushing by me, on one side, and traffic on the other as I passed through the roadway of the bridge, which was a bit disconcerting, to say the least. I’m not sure why it was so much easier to climb up than down, but my heart was in my throat all the way to the bottom. Those little sideways skootches were the worst. But I made it!
It took almost as long to get out of all that gear as it did to get into it. Finally we were all changed and back in the lobby again. Colin was looking a little green, but he had managed the climb without any real problem. He and Grace had a really good photo taken together. George had done the climb before, though he said the conditions were much better this time. And, would you believe it...as we were walking out of the bridge climb building towards the nearest pub for lunch…it started to rain again. A few drops at first and then it was a total deluge. Pretty amazing, huh?
When we got to the pub, we discovered that World cup fever had taken the place over completely, so we pretty much cancelled any other plans we had for the day and just joined in. But it was a bad day for the home teams. England had won their first match against Paraguay on the 10th, and was still in the running, but both the US and Australia were beaten, so there was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Well, mostly there was drinking. George treated Gracie, Colin and me to a beer for climbing the bridge, but then there was a whole lot more beer, and I don’t think I paid for any of it, though I’m pretty sure I offered. I seem to remember some sandwiches and chips appearing at one point, and I think I remember joining in a very loud and mournful rendition of Waltzing Matilda, which I don’t even know, but nobody seemed to mind, or even notice. Somehow Colin, Grace and I did end up back at the hotel safe and sound, while George decided to stay in town and party some more, but that’s about all I do remember. So, all in all, it was quite a day.
Today I got off to kind of a late start, as you can imagine. But I made myself eat some breakfast…coffee and toast…no vegemite, and took the bus to Manly Beach. I think I’ve had enough World Cup fever to last me for a while. The weather was kind of iffy...again, though it wasn’t actually raining and the temperature was about 55 degrees, which was way too cold to go swimming, in my opinion. But I just wanted to walk on the beach and maybe dip my toes in the South Pacific. Well, imagine my surprise when I got to the beach and it was packed. People were surfing and packs of kids in red tee shirts…some school group or camp…were running relay races in and out of the water, and playing with blue boogie boards. People were walking dogs along the path, and all the seaside restaurants and shops were doing booming business. I guess nobody got the memo that it’s supposed to be winter. I really want to try surfing, but I think I’ll wait and try it at Bondi beach on Friday.
I’m really wiped out...I think that jet lag is finally catching up with me. And no...it’s not just the beer from yesterday. I pretty much walked that off on the beach. I think I’ll just have a quick sandwich downstairs...or maybe I’ll walk up the road to a place I keep passing called Elvis Pizza...that has GOT to be good, and then I’ll turn in early. Tomorrow I’m planning on the Featherdale Wildlife Center. God…this was a long letter!
Love and kisses,
Your intrepid (and long winded) boyfriend
Jim
From: Pbeesly
Sent: June 12, 2006 10:45 AM
To: Jhalpert
Subject: re: Sydney Day 4
Dear Intrepid Boyfriend,
This is so bizarre. Here I am reading the letter you wrote…tomorrow? It’s so cool…it’s almost like time travel. Hey...I could warn you… be careful not to drink too much beer later today…oh and the US will lose its first Soccer game 2 to zip. [Cue Twilight Zone music]
I hope you don’t mind, but I printed up the bridge climb part of your letter and shared it with pretty much everybody in the Office. Dwight was practically pea green with envy. Dave, the new salesman, said, and I quote, "Awesome." Phyllis tells me to tell you that she’s very proud of you. Kelly had a whole lot to say…I think the upshot was that she thinks that you are totally cool. And even Ryan was impressed. Angela thought that you were brave but foolhardy. Maybe if you were making the climb to rescue kittens or something, she might see the value in it.
I didn’t show it to Michael, though. I don’t think he can handle it. His ego is very fragile.
Have I mentioned that Angela has turned into a total Bridezilla? Please tell me that I wasn’t that bad…no actually...don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. I mean, she sits all the way across the room from me and I can’t stand it...I can only imagine what you must have gone through.
Actually, I’m feeling kind of pea green with envy, myself. Your trip sounds so wonderful. Rotten weather and all. I really am proud of you for making the trip and the climb and for getting out of your rut. My turn comes in a couple of weeks when my internship starts. I can’t wait.
In the meantime I am taking a watercolor course at the high school starting this Thursday night. I vaguely remember the instructor’s name from the gallery…I think he shows his work there. If he’s the person I remember, he is really good, so he should be able to help me a lot.
Meanwhile, life goes on. At least I get to read your travelogue...I just love it. What’s next, oh explorer from the future? Kangaroos? Koalas? Platypusses? Hug a koala bear for me.
Love and kisses,
Pam
