We Climb the Bridge

Well,we did it!!  We climbed the bridge.

We can't say that we were not scared before we started or that we did not think of excuses not to do it--Meredith was too congested, my legs were hurting me.  But in the end we showed up and went up.

When you get to the office, which is quite a ways from where the climb actually starts, you are actually given a breathalyzer test to make sure you have not been drinking.  You are told to take off your jewelry.  You put on an incredibly unflattering jumpsuit over just your underwear.  Then everything you brought, including cameras goes into a locker.

They give you a very cursory training session on how to climb up and down the ladders that begin the climb.  You can get pretty proud of your ability to maneuver them and then they tell you there will be four of them to climb--what they don't tell you is that   each will be about twice the size of the ones you practiced on.  Best you don't know at that point.

Our guide Pete was a real hoot.  Blond with a small pony tail--really nice and funny.  He had a microphone that he used for commentary, which you heard in your earphones.

There were ten of us in the group--one other American, a woman about 45, I would say.  She seemed cool at the start of the trip.  She told us she was from L.A. and on a 25-day tour with a group--none of whom were with her.  In the middle of the climb I asked how she was doing and shew answered not well, which kind of surprised me.  "But I'm going to stop complaining," she said, making me sorry for the fellows who were climbing before and after her.  She said she was having an anxiety attach--which she had never had before.  At the end of the climb I said, "well, you got through it."  Then she told me that she had a long-term boyfriend who had anxiety attacks, which she never did and she was going to take her attack as a learning experience.  Meredith and I both had the same reaction later--"so L.A.!"

You start the walk on flat planks that go out to the main portion of the bridge, then it's up the ladders and on to the arc of the bridge, which has steps along the way.  The whole time you are attached to a cable that runs along the path.  I have to say the connection did not appear that strong but luckily neither Meredith nor I had to test that strength.

We stopped quite frequently along the way, to rest and have our picture taken.  We were not allowed to bring cameras, so we had to rely on those pictures, which were generally not very good.  At the end of the climb we had the opportunity to purchase some or all.  Considering the cost of the climb I would have thought we would have gotten at least one for free.  Actually we did but it was the group shot.

Here's the picture we purchased at the end.

As you can see, we were very high.  But it did not seem that scary when you are up there. It's just beautiful.  We were so glad we did it.  We got a free hat--notice the picture and saw the city from a very different vantage point.  And we did get a certificate!

Earlier in the day, we spent a couple of hours on the beach.

The weather was threatening, but nothing ever came of it.  In fact Peter said there was never a better day to climb.  

We got ourselves together to go into town and have some lunch before the climb.  We were both starving.  And even though we knew there would be a breathalyzer, we definitely needed some liquid courage and had a glass of wine each.  We figured four hours was enough to get it out of our system before the climb--and we were right.  Though we both were a little apprehensive when the test was administered.

Then, with lots of time to kill, we took another ferry ride, this time to Cockatoo Island, which looked interesting in the guide book.  But it was essentially an old industrial site with one nice bar.  We were glad we had checked it out before we planned a day around a visit.

As  you might imagine, we were pretty psyched once we were down from the bridge in one piece.  We walked back to the Circular Quay and took our picture with NO CRUISE SHIP in the background.

And to prove that at least once we were outside when it was dark.

Sydney is a totally beautiful place, whether in daytime or nighttime.

We made our way over to the Opera Bar, a place we had on our list to visit before we left.  But there were so many people there on a Friday night that we left and went to another place and had a couple of drinks and a snack.

We were absolutely exhausted when we arrived home about 11 and went right to bed.

Tomorrow, it's Manly Beach.