So, with everyone back home moaning that I've not done anything and not updating my blog enough I decided to take the plunge and do the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb.

Bridge Climb Training

At 18.25 it was my groups turn to be "shown the ropes". For the entire climb, which is actually quite an easy walk up and down stairs with a few ladders thrown in to keep things interesting, we were hooked to a line. We were put in clothing akin to something from Star Trek, with additional items clipped to the suit, such as, hat, jacket, radio etc. Once kitted out we were provided with basic instructions, like don't start climbing the ladder until the person before you is out of the way and we all had to be breath tested to make sure our bodies alcohol level wasn't above 0.05.

The Climb

I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge at twilight which meant I got to experience the climb during daylight, dusk and darkness. This was definitely a good choice, albeit costing me slightly more than any other time of the day. But watching the sunset and the moon rise and spotting the Southern Cross and the Blue Mountains from above the city were definitely worth it.

The commentary from the guide was very interesting, he gave us all the facts about the bridge and it's construction, and quite surprisingly out of the 400,000 men who worked on the construction of the bridge there were only 16 fatalities. Our first thought were that these would have been from men falling from the arches of the bridge as there were no harnesses and safety lines in those days, but in fact most of the deaths were of men who worked in the steel works. There was a man who fell from the bridge, I believe he was Irish, who actually survived the fall into the ocean. When he was pulled to safety his boots were inbedded in the bottom of his feet from hitting the ocean floor and the rest of his boots were up around his thighs. Even more amazing was that he only sustained a few broken ribs and had hearing problems for a while.

The bridge climb took about 3.5 hours, this was mainly due to the safety procedures, and a lot of waiting on the bridge itself for groups that were before us to have their photo's taken.

So I hope that keeps you happy for a little while, I'm planning on doing some things over Christmas and will be heading up to the Great Barrier Reef in the New Year so there will be a few more entries shortly.

Until next time....

Kel