Barack Obama climbs Sydney Harbour Bridge after public talk

The 61-year-old former US president and his wife, Michelle, have continued their Aussie visit with a walk to the top of the Harbour Bridge on Wednesday.

Barack Obama may have lived in glamorous cities such as Honolulu and New York but it seems Sydney has left an indelible mark on the former US president.

The 61-year-old and his wife, Michelle, were all smiles on Wednesday as they scaled the Harbour Bridge following a public talk he gave to a sellout crowd of thousands the night prior.

Mr Obama has been full of praise for Sydney, a city he briefly visited as a child when a Qantas stewardess took “very good care” of him, giving him Coca-Cola as he read comic books.

“Sydney is fantastic, we have had such a wonderful time here, it’s one of the world’s great cities,” he said.

Barack Obama is closely followed by his wife Michelle as they take in the sights from the top of the Harbour Bridge. Picture: Media Mode

Obama spoke on a variety of issues including women in politics, saying they were a force for good in the corridors of power.

“I am actually convinced that if we could try an experiment in which every country on Earth was run by women for just like two years … I am confident the world would tilt in a better direction,” he said.

The audience responded with cheers and applause but Mr Obama quickly gave a caveat.

“Before you cheer, I’m not saying you guys don’t do crazy things either, so don’t clap yourself too much on the back … I’m in a household of three women and so I’ve seen some stuff out of you,” he said.

Moving on to geopolitics, Mr Obama described Chinese president Xi Jinping as “forceful and confident”.

“We actually had a series of significant conversations and blunt conversations around how to manage the US-China relationship and sometimes those conversations were tough but I still felt it was possible to get China to support a rule-based system,” he said.

Mr Obama went to school in Honolulu while living with his maternal grandparents and later lived “like a monk” while a college student in New York.