As some of you may remember I received this as a birthday present. It was a major highlight on my trip as the Sydney Harbour is probably the most famous harbour out there.
If there was one thing I can say about the climb, it's 'wow'. Seeing Sydney from 440 feet above the Harbour is just amazing. Being up so high really shows you how big the city is, with all the islands and you can even see Bondi Beach!!!
There are three different climbs, the Bridge climb, the Discovery Climb and the Express climb. The Bridge climb is the most common climb, which I did, lasting 3.5 hrs and taking you along the top archway and over the top between the famous flags.
We were not climbing for 3.5 hrs though.
My climb was at 1.35 pm on 5th September, for the first 45 minutes you are kitted out and breathalised. They take safety very seriously as you can imagine. To protect yourself and people below on the bridge, you have to wear a boiler suit (to stop anything falling off you) and a safety harness that clips onto a wire at all times. They have thought of everything. When I climbed it was 30 degrees outside but we still had to carry waterproofs, hats, gloves and even a handkerchief incase we cried!! Everything is clipped on at least twice, again incase anything fell onto cars below.
After a quick training session in climbing stairs we started our climb. Our guide Richard lead us through one the the bridges pillars before we climbed the hardest section of the bridge (being 4 sets of steep ladders!) onto the top arch. The archway has fitted steps that are not very steep all the way along the arch to the top. Anyone could climb the bridge as your guide is always stopping to tell you about the scenery or taking your photo. Even a 100 year old lady has climbed the bridge, so if you want to do it there is really no excuse!
Has anyone climbed the bridge?? How did you find it and would you do it again??
20 September 2011 at 16:24
I wish I had done this when I went to Sydney....but it was near the end of my trip and money was getting low. I will just have to save it for next time. :)