To The Top!
Friday May 31, 2013
Oh boy! Here we go!! To the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I chose the Twilight Climb that started at 4pm and I made a good choice! I got the best of both views – the sunset as we climbed to the top, and then a view of the Vivid Lights and other city lights as we climbed back down. Our guide was really cool, too. We arrived at the top of the bridge on schedule at 5:45pm. He had everyone just chill out which is really hard to do when you are 440 feet up in the air tethered to a wire wearing a flimsy jump suit. But he had a plan. The Vivid Lights show was going to start promptly at 6pm and he wanted us to see it. Sure enough at 5:59 and 45 seconds the Opera House was lit up and the rest of the city and harbour soon followed.
They don’t let you bring your camera or phone with you on the climb for fear you will drop it and it will land on a passing car. Can you imagine that happening if you were the driver? They even made me take off my headband, all jewelry, my pants (not sure why I couldn’t wear my jeans under the jumpsuit), and sunnies (sunglasses). Turns out I didn’t need those things anyway and it is quite the workout climbing 1,332 steps so not having all that stuff weighing me down was a blessing. After we were suited up we had training. They taught us how to tether ourselves (very important) and how to climb the ladder type steps both up and down.
There were two parts to the climb – the catwalks from land to the inclines and then the inclines. The catwalks were VERY narrow. I remember looking down over the Hyatt in Darling Harbour when we were only 50 feet up and we were on two 2″ by 8″ planks. One foot fit on each plank. And that is fine except for the parts when I had to lean WAY over the railing so that I didn’t hit my head on the supports that angled right in front of me. There were many of those. My heart started to flutter when I looked down. It was exhilarating!
Then came the inclines. There were ladder type steps that had different sections. There were about 25 steps per section. The fun came when I had to transfer from one section to another. It reminded me of going from a roof back down to a ladder. There was a point when I had one foot on one section and the other foot trying to reach the other section all the while remembering to have both hands holding on to something fixed to the bridge. Lordy! The other type of inclines were pretty easy as they were 3 foot wide metal steps at a very low slope.
We were actually climbing and/or looking at the sights for a solid 2.5 hours. I was pooped when I finished, but it was one of the great highlights of the entire trip!!
These photos came on the CD I purchased that included 2 shots of me on top of the bridge. They really do tell the story, but the ones of me with the city lights behind are just spectacular. We were so high up!!!
Starting the big climb to the top – looking back towards Sydney.
View of the Sydney Opera House as we climb the bridge.
1,332 Steps in all!!
The sun sets on another climbing group.
I reached the very top!! This was minutes before Vivid Lights started.
And now I’m headed back down. Had to be sure and pay attention to my footing rather than look at the lights. But they stopped a lot along the way for us to get a good look.
After the climb Mike met me out for some well deserved beers. Our first stop was the Australian Hotel where rugby was on TV and I tried to explain it to Mike. He ended up really liking it despite my scattered interpretation of the rules. Then we headed over to Hero of Waterloo to continue the night with some friends I know from Orlando that have relocated to Sydney. So fun!
Closing time at 10:30pm!
One interesting thing about most traditional pubs in Sydney is that they close anywhere from 10pm to 11:30pm. And I mean they will sweep you out into the streets at closing time. Apparently this is common in England, too.
K. Dana Morris 