The Week That Was

Wow, what a week! From the moment I walked into the office on Monday morning, things were happening at a million miles an hour. I had a few hours in the office before my colleagues and I headed to Darling Harbour to start the set up for our annual national conference at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. It was a crazy few days but also a lot of a fun and despite being absolutely exhausted by the end, I was also feeling really inspired thanks to the range of speakers I got to hear from and all the people I met. Working in the NFP/associations sector means I'm always surrounded by leaders who are achieving great things in their respective organisations and industries.

Yummy bruschetta at our team dinner on Monday.

The beautiful Sydney skyline from Darling Harbour.

A highlight at our conference is always the dinner on the second night. This year it was held at Dockside at Darling Harbour and the 400 odd guests were treated to a delicious three course meal followed by live music and dancing. After all the hard work my team had put in over the last few months, it was great to bust a few moves together and let loose. The dinner was followed by an after party at The Star where we hired out the karaoke lounge. I fulfilled my duties as chief backup dancer (from the comfort of my chair) and managed to stay out until 2am. A pretty impressive achievement, considering we'd all been working since 7.30am! Still, I was one of the first to leave and word is some of my work mates stayed out until 4am, slept for two hours then got up for a fitness session at 6am and then managed to stay awake for another full day of conferencing. Crazy cats.

Toasted marshmallows at our conference on day one!

This year we had the pleasure of hosting a group of American delegates at our conference. On Thursday, they were booked in to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. At the last minute, my boss decided not to go which meant I was offered a free ticket to join them! Before I knew it, I was wearing an extremely attractive jump-suit and being briefed on the ins and outs of bridge-climbing. Now I've never been one to say I'm scared of heights, so I was feeling pretty chilled out. That was until I found myself climbing four very steep vertical step ladders on the edge of the bridge with the water to my left and hundreds of cars whizzing by beneath my feet. At this point I was beginning to wonder what I'd gotten myself into. Even though I was safely attached to a cable, I felt so exposed and it was like those ladders were never going to end. I eventually emerged at the top of the last ladder but was feeling quite dishevelled (in a hands shaking and sweating, short of breath, mouth completely dry kinda way). I had to talk myself out of it in order to keep on going and not let the height get to me. After all, there I was climbing one of the world's most iconic landmarks with the beautiful Sydney Harbour beneath me and skyline behind me. How lucky was I!

The rest of the climb was relatively easy as it's basically just one long stair case up to the top. At times the fear would creep back, but by the time we got to the top I was feeling so excited and the view was out of this world. We stopped for lots of photos and our guide George was full of heaps of interesting facts about the bridge and Sydney in general, much of which I had no idea about. The walk back down was much easier and we even had a chance to sit down while we waited for some of our group to have their photos taken. As I was sitting there, on top of the Harbour Bridge, the whole concept was blowing my mind. I mean, I've seen that bridge so many times now, stopped at various look-outs to take photos and driven over it at least once a week. To think I was there just chillin' on top of it was so crazy! I'm so thankful that I had this opportunity. If you ever hear me complaining about my job, just remind me that I got to climb the Harbour Bridge for free as a result of working where I do!

My workmate Alex and I looking super attractive in the full bridge-climbing gear (hats at night time? it was windy!). But hey, check out that view!!

Come Friday I was feeling a little sorry for myself thanks to aching muscles and lack of sleep. It was all worth it though and I managed to get 12 hours sleep last night so I'm feeling happy as larry. Ben and I are having a quiet weekend. We're going to do a bit of shopping this afternoon and having a movie date lined up tonight. I hope you all have a splendid weekend. xo