Friday, March 2 Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb

Friday, March 2
What a day !
This morning we set out with Antonio after coffee at home for the prime adventure
planned adventure of this visit – to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge !
Near the Bridge is “the Rocks”- an ”old town” area – one of the first areas of Sydney to be settled. It sits directly next to the Harbor where the original ships berthed. Today it is a trendy mix of shops, restaurants and business and residential – with a healthy dose of history thrown in.

We arrived at the Bridge with only a few minutes to wait for our climb. We were brought I nto a preparation and training area first. First we signed releases (I guess incase we fell off), certificates that we were healthy Iin case we fainted and fell off..) and took a breathalyzer test. (I passed).
We put all of our personal items in lockers and were issued a sort of flight suit to change into. That part was pretty amazing actually. This young Asian guy just stood us all in a circle and looked at usd. Then he went and brought back a pile of suirs. And everybody’s fit perfectly !!! I asked him if he could go shopping with me later but…..

But I digress… We were allowed to take no personal items at all – not even a cough drop. They want to be sure that nothing drops from the span onto the roadbed 60 meters below.

Next we were equipped with an equipment belt. The belt is a heavy webbing with a ring in front into which is secured a connector to a cable system that attaches one to the Bridge along the entire climb route. Then we were given lanyards for our glasses, a hat with a clip attached to a ring on the flight suit; Handkerchief that attaches to your wrist with elastic bands, a radio pack on the back of the belt that hooks into headphones so that you can hear the guide as you climb.

At this point we all pretty much lookerd like a bunch of oompa-lompas : )

Then you are taken to a practice section so that you can get the feel of the areas that you will negotiate and also how to manage the cable system – which really manages itself – all pretty simple really – Xavier our guide was fun and funny. Our group included only one other American, from Orleans, New York. One group of six were from somewhere in Australia. A honeymoon couple from India rounded out our dozen.
At some (of the more dangerous) points in the climb, there are aides to make sure that everyone is executing properly. One of them told me that he had had a woman from Colorado Springs about two hours before !! Small world!

Starting out was a tad freaky - A 24 inch wide wood planked catwalk that traversed the bridge over the roadbed and then headed out along the lower level of the span. I thought “OMIGOD” IT was much narrower than I had expected. Next we arrived at a series of four ladders and platforms that were straight up for about 50 feet. We negotiated these to get from the bottom arch to the top arch. This was not difficult but a little freaky if you look down (which I only did once : ) Once at the top, we set out along the top of the span on a climb that is more like a shallow stairway and the path is much wider up there – maybe 8 feet – so you do not feel like you are hanging onto the edge. It is actually pretty easy and the view is fabuous. You can see the entire city and all the surrounding bays and inlets and islands – faboulous !!

At the top we spent about half an hour taking a series of photos. Noone is allowed to take his own camera so the guides take individual and group shots for everyone with the bay, the city, and the opera house in the background. They give you a photo of the group as a part of the cost of the climb and then the others are available for purchase when you get back down.

We had climbed the East side of the Span to the pinnacle and after we crossed over to the other side we returned on the West side of the span. The descent is of course much easier but the ladders are daunting. It was a memorable and exciting few hours.

We stopped for a pub lunch a nearby rooftop garden nearby and then returned to pick up our photos. Then headed to the South Bridge Pylon which has an observation deck where we were allowed to use our cameras. – another several hundred steps to climb, I might add. After the bridge climb, the view from the pylom didn’t seem so spectacular : ) We took our photos and headed out for a walk to Darling Harbor – another harbor area that has been reclaimed from port activity to residential condos and lofts and trendy shops and restaurants. By now, I was falling down dead, so we grabbed a cab and headed for Five Dock and home.

Lina awaited with yet another wonderful dinner – fresh steamed mussels – and Anthony made Spaghetti Aglio e olio and pesto. (spaghetti tossed with garlic, olive oil, and pesto)

We slept well…………