16th February, 2023

Quite literally a highlight of our holiday in and around Sydney was to climb the harbour bridge.  I’ve wanted to do this for at least twenty years and would finally have my chance!

Booked online about six weeks prior, it was expensive but I decided that we’d go ahead anyway for the reason just mentioned.  When we turned up at the alloted time, we found out why it isn’t cheap; the level of organisation and the investment in safety is tremendous. 

A through induction process leads to getting togged up and advice to wear plenty of factor 50, with large dispensers to hand.  Then comes walking through an airport-style metal detector to ensure that nobody even has a watch on, never mind a forbidden camera or smartphone that they can drop on to the live roadway or stumble with.  Putting the harness on is straightforward thanks to their being laid out on frames rather than presenting a tangled mess of webbing.  Each harness was then checked by one of the staff, and then again by another.

Now ready to go, we each took part in a trial ladder climb to demonstrate that we had understood the safety rules and knew how not to get tangled in our safety wire.  Right; now we could go, and we did!

The initial walk is along suspended gantries under the roadway before then taking four near-vertical ladders up to the start of the arch and then the climbing walk along it to the summit.  In radio earpiece contact with our leader, we had a fascinating history lesson and were in awe of those who physically built the bridge.

The photos paint a lovely picture of the view, including from the summit gantry where we crossed over to the other arch before descending to end up where we’d started.  Blessed with a perfect day, from walking up to the registration desk to walking out was three hours and forty minutes of fantastic experience.  Far from frightening it was imply exhilarating and a wonderful way to see the city and beyond.

Worth the two decade wait!

Steve