I Climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge

So I left New Zealand early Monday morning (my 65th birthday across the International Dateline, but one day prior to my birthday in North America) on my way to Australia.  The flight actually departed early and I arrived in Sydney by 8:50 a.m.  Now the approach into Sydney was spectacular as we swept over the CBD (central business district) of Sydney and could stare down on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.  Spectacular!

Once I landed, I quickly cleared customs and immigration and was on the underground train to the Wynyard Station, right next door to my hotel.  Now, as luck would have it, my room was actually ready when I arrived so by 10:30, I was already settled into my hotel room in Sydney.

Now I was supposed to go on an all day tour of Sydney the next day, but I had not heard from the tour company (which is unusual since every tour I have booked always sends an email a day or two before confirming pickup details etc).  I had heard nothing from Sydney Private Day Tours so began calling the number I had for them … out of order.  I called the second number I had and it was busy … for over an hour.  I called the last number I had and it went to voicemail.  I left not one, but two voicemails and by 1:00 had heard nothing back.  Uh Oh.  So … I ordered an UBER and wasted $35 AUD on a round trip to the office address only to find out that the office was vacant and being repainted.  CRAP!  First time ever I have had this problem.

I went back to my hotel, looked up private guides on TripAdvisor, found a highly ranked company with reviews as recent as last week and booked a new tour.  In the meantime, my research on TripAdvisor showed that the last review of my original tour company was October (despite the fact the website remains active and they have perfect ratings).  So, I called my credit card company to report a fraud and they advised that I had to wait until after the meeting time passed and if no one showed up to call back and request a refund.  So that is on my to do list tomorrow.

Anyway, with a new tour booked, I started to get ready for my big night … my climb of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  Yep, I was going to do it originally for my 65th birthday, but now am doing it in honour of my grandniece Cora and her fighting spirit!

So by 4:30 p.m., I had my hiking boots on and headed out the door for what I thought was about a 15 minute walk (at least according to MAPS.  Uh think again.  By 5:05, I was still walking and still trying to find the Bridge Climb office.  In fact, MAPS even tried to take me up across the walking path on the bridge.  It wasn’t until I took an elevator up two levels that I realized I was on the wrong route.  Fortunately, a nice lady in a bar directed me to the end of the street where I arrived about 5 minutes late, but not a problem as the guy who checked me in was kind and directed me up the stairs, where a few minutes later I joined a group of 13 others for the Twilight Bridge Climb.

We were fitted with jumpsuits, harnesses, headphones and head lamp, stripped of all cameras, phones, jewelry and anything metal, met our guide, Tanner, and were then provided with safety instructions.  By 6:10 p.m. we were walking single file out of the building, locking our harness into the railing that would follow us for the next two hours and crossing a ramp to the underside of the bridge.

So the first part of the climb was along a long, flat metal ramp that took about 10 minutes to cross.  The noise of the cars, trucks and trains was just above us and was REALLY loud.  In fact, it was so loud, that the lady in front of me asked to be taken back to the office.  She wanted no further part of the climb.

Once the lady was retrieved by an office staffer, we started our climb up some small stairs and under some metal girders before encountering the worst part of the climb, the four sets of ladders.  Now these ladders required a bit of dexterity.  The rungs were closely spaced together so you had to move carefully (and only one person at a time on the ladder) and grasp the underside railing for support, all the while the metal harness followed along the railing as we hiked up.

Once I reached the top of the four ladders (with a little huffing and puffing), we were out in the open and so began the climb up outside along a huge metal staircase.  And we were, by now, so high up that the wizzing noise of the cars was a distant sound.  Now the wind was another matter.  Periodically, we would experience a wind gust and … yowza!

And the views at this point, were spectacular.  With downtown Sydney, the Sydney Harbour and the constant presence of ferries, and, of course, the iconic Sydney Opera House.  It was fabulous and, to be honest, not particularly scary.

Throughout the hike up, Tanner provided commentary about the bridge, including such tidbits as the fact construction on the bridge began in 1923,  the bridge was completed in 1932, the bridge has 6,000,000 rivets and the men who constructed the bridge had the “option” to bring rope to the job to secure themselves while they worked on the bridge.  Now, sadly, 14 men died during construction of the bridge (and 2 others in the quarries).  And one miraculously survived a fall into the harbour.  At the top of the bridge, there are two flags, the Aboridinal Flag and the Australian flag.  The flags were where we would end the trip up, before the descent.

Anyway, about halfway up the climb, Tanner took pictures of us with the gorgeous Sydney Harbour below.  Then it was time to make the final climb up to the top.  The last little bit was actually quite easy as the staircase started to flatten out and before we knew it, we were at the top of the bridge.  YAY!!

At the top, we all got a chance to pose for pictures before crossing over to the other side of the bridge and beginning the descent down, but not before the entire group sang happy birthday to me.  VERY COOL.

Now the hike down was the easy part.  And along with the easy part, we were able to enjoy fabulous sunset views of the harbour to the west and even had a boat pass us below with people cheering us on.  That was fun!

We stopped once more for photos and then began the final descent back into the underside of the bridge where we had to climb down the ladders.  And wouldn’t you know it … as I began the hike down the second ladder (climbing down backwards as you would any ladder), a train came whizzing past me to my right (separated of course by a decent amount of space and several metal barriers) and then on the last ladder it happened again.  No other person in my group was so lucky!

Anyway, once we were all finished with the ladder portion, we climbed back under the metal girders and then began the walk along the flat metal ramp on the other side of the bridge.  And while the noise from the vehicles and trains made this part quite loud, the walk was very, very easy.

By 8:15 we were finishing the last steps on the ramp and at the end of the ramp, the harness slipped off and we were done!  I was incredibly happy I made it as were a number of people.

Anyway, after I extracted myself from the safety harness, the headphones and jumpsuit, I gathered my things from the locker, picked up the QR code for my pictures and called it good.  I was exhausted.  Ordered an UBER and was back at my hotel by 8:45.

And one more thing.  My Cora update.  My darling grandniece has had a bit of good news with cardio numbers.  They have also weened her off the paralyzing drug so that she can start forcing her lungs to heal.  The docs are cautiously optimistic.  Prayers, good mojo, good vibes, positive thoughts and good wishes are STRONGLY encouraged.  Keep fighting Boo.  We all love you.