One of the activities that has been on my bucket list is
climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
Getting to Australia certainly made it easier to accomplish. (Although until the Jack Nicholson, Morgan
Freeman movie came out I am not sure I ever had a bucket list.) We made reservations a week or two ago,
although I have taken poetic license using the term we. Thank you Michelle!!!
The weather here in Sydney has left something to be
desired. That something that is missing
is the big yellow thing in the sky of the northern hemisphere that is called
the sun. Since I arrived it has been cool,
windy, cloudy and drizzly. Our bridge
climb was scheduled for twilight Sunday so we would be on top of the bridge
both in daylight and at night when the city was all lit up. We awoke on Sunday and
the drizzle had been replaced by rain.
We both wondered if the bridge climb would be spoiled or cancelled by
the weather. During the day we wandered
over to the Glebe Street fair (not Glee.) Nice street and most of the time the
rain abated. Later in the afternoon we
made our way to the Australian Museum of Contemporary Art. The drawing card was the new Yoko Ono
exhibition, “Stop the War.”: Very
interesting and moving. The exhibit was virtually
all in black and white. Image a chess
board only in white and with the pieces on both sides only in white. Which bishop is mine? Am I on the right square?
At the appointed
time, we made our way to the Bridge Climb entrance. Our group of climbers was about 11
people. About half Australian and half
from the U.S. including a couple from Boston where the wife was the climber and
the husband stayed with his feet firmly planted on the ground. (Fear of heights
he claimed) We dressed in what I can only describe as space suits. They were full length cloth suits in blue and
gray that zipped from the back and had attachments and clips everywhere. A clip for the gloves, one for the hat:
another for the radio (communication not entertainment): clips for glasses, one
for a wiping cloth (handkerchief). Oh,
and yes a harness to clip each climber to the bridge. There was a practice area where we learned to
climb stairs and ladders while keeping 3 points connected at all times. (2
hands and a foot or 2 feet and one hand.)
All this as you were tethered to the bridge.
Soon we were ready for the climb. Climb is a misnomer. Mostly there are steps, stairs and a couple
of ladders. You often were ducking under
low hanging beams or stepping over a girder.
Remember, this is a bridge. After
about 30 minutes of “climbing,” we found ourselves on the exterior of the
curved arch of the bridge overlooking the harbor and the city of Sydney. Spectacular view even though it was dusk and
overcast. The leader kept up a running
commentary through the radio system, although sometimes she would warn us of a
low hanging beam when we were 50 yards behind.
Every now and again we would stop to catch our breath, let stragglers
catch up, take photos (they took all photos, we were not allowed to have
cameras on the climb) and just admire the beauty of the city. Viewing the Opera House lit up a night from a
height of 140 meters is a vision I will never forget.
And then the rains came.
Here we are atop the longest arch bridge in the world and it starts
raining. No shelter, no umbrella, just a
steady downpour. If we look like drowned
birds in some of the photos, you know why.
You climb up one arch cross over the bridge to the other arch and then
climb back down. From start to finish
the climbing takes about 2 hours. OK
climbing takes 1 ½ hours and photos take the other 30 minutes.
One bucket list item down, many more to go.