Bridge Climb

I was actually a little nervous when I woke up this morning. Not scuba diving nervous, but “can I climb a bridge” nervous. I had signed up for the first climb of the morning so needed to be at the Bridge Climb @ 815am for my 835am climb. It was about a 15 minute walk so at 8am I was out the door! At 835am on the dot our group was taken inside a room where we filled out some paperwork and took a breathalyzer test. I’m not sure if they’ve had problems with drunken people wanting to climb (or people who feel the need to get drunk in order to have the guts to climb) but I thought it was interesting how I didn’t get tested or anything before skydiving!

Before we entered the room I had some time to hang out in the gift shop where they had pictures of famous people who had completed the climb (including Oprah) and I thought, if Oprah can do this..I can do this! I was also sizing up my competition in our group and I felt pretty comfortable as well!

Anyway I passed the breathalyzer test (wahooo!) and we were then brought into another room where we introduced ourselves. I met a couple who are on their honeymoon from Quincy MA (got married on the cape) so I became their third wheel! There was also a couple from Florida and business partners from LA here for work. The other three couples were from Australia! We then got our suits and were brought into yet another room to change, put things in our lockers, etc. I got a special strap for my sunglasses. After a metal detector we headed again into another room for the rest of our gear.

We put on harnesses, but they really just went around your waste so if you really DID fall off I can’t imagine they would help THAT much! We also got rain gear (which THANKFULLY we didn’t need) and our headsets. This whole process took about an hour (it was around 930am the last time I saw a clock) and we were ready to roll! The whole building was very industrial and at this point we walked on a bridge over the people who were waiting for their bridge climb. It was a little teaser..us saying that they TOO can wear these awesome jumpsuits!

Our guide was Ash (short for Ashely and she was awesome!) She studied outdoor recreation at university and said she didn’t really want to leave Sydney. The Blue Mountains are where someone with her degree would work but it’s about 2.5 hours away so she said the bridge climb was perfect for her! She’s been there for 3 years and has done 435 climbs! I asked her if she had brought any celebrities up and she replied, “Brittney” and I looked at her and said, “As in Spears?” to which she replied, “Uhhh is there any other?” I was DEFINITELY impressed with that! She also did a climb with Pink and said she seemed to be matched with “pop” people, which was perfect for her personality.

I was third in line (behind my new friends Jordon and Emily) and we were off! The first thing (that really got a lot of people) was the catwalk. Honestly heights don’t scare me at all, but you could definitely tell some people were really holding on for dear life when they realized they could see below us! Ash said they bring up about 1,000 people a day and only about 5 REALLY freak out (they might have to be cut off and brought down on stretchers). I thought about making up a story about how one of them was in my group, but I’m pressed for time so I shall continue!

I asked when their busiest day is and she said on January 1st and 2nd they do about 3,000 people. The fireworks in Sydney on New Year’s Eve are set off from the bridge so they have to close earlier on the 31st. So the people who plan on going that day realized it’s closed and then sign up for the next day! She also said it takes 3-4 months before and after New Years to set up and dismantle the fireworks (we saw a few machines taking them down!)

After the catwalk (yes, our group made it through) we had about 5 flights of VERY step ladder’s. I am not afraid of heights but this was the only time I was like, “ehhh I don’t know about this” mostly because we were going straight up over the cars.

We stopped enough so Ash could tell us about what we were seeing and so she could answer questions. We also had pictures taken of us (they will come soon!) and for obvious reasons we could not bring a digital camera with us.

We were talking about the whole idea of a “Bridge Climb” and Ash was saying how the department of motor vehicles said it was ok but people needed to be in gray suits to blend in. On the other side of the bridge is the train and they said it was ok but people had to be wearing florescent shirts. I guess after 8 years the train finally gave in..because our suits were grey! We also saw a Zakim Bridge in the distance so my new friends and I are going to start a Tobin Bridge climb. All of you are welcome! Near the top of the bridge we learned more about the Sydney Opera house and how it was only suppose to cost 7 million but ended up costing 1.2 billion (whoops!) and we also saw John Travolta’s house (where Oprah supposedly stayed).

1,439 steps later we were back..probably around 1130am! I was exhausted but so happy I did it! It was definitely an adventure! I made the walk back to the hotel where it was starting to rain. I was ALSO very happy I didn’t have to climb in the rain (they climb no matter what as long as there is no lighting) but it definitely wouldn’t have been as fun!

Erin flew in from the Gold Coast (yay!) and while her flight was a little delayed she arrived at the hotel in the early afternoon. We were all VERY hungry for lunch and had heard great things about this pancake place, so that’s where we headed. It was AMAZING!

Erin was definitely the most excited about it. They had regular pancakes, but then they had more like dessert pancakes (including chocolate pancakes which I have never had). We decided to start off with something more lunch-ish since we were going to be pigging out, and decided on nachos. While devouring the nachos we realized we were making this our “healthy” lunch choice, so you can tell how healthy we actually are. Our pancakes were delicious (although I do have to blog that Erin was the only one who finished). I got a chocolate pancake with ice cream, chocolate sauce and strawberries (I TRIED being healthy!)

After our tummies were STUFFED (and we realized how late in the day it was) we decided we wanted to get a tour of the Opera House. The weather was kinda blah so we figured it would be a good inside activity. We were actually impressed with the tour (it started off a bit slow) but it was really good to see the whole place. It really so beautiful inside! Our tour guide was telling us how Kanye West played in the main Concert Hall (not the kind of venue you would picture Kanye) and it was really nice because we were able to snap a few shots (if there’s a play set in the room you can’t).

As we left the tour we took a walk through the Botanical gardens which were very pretty (and much needed in a city) and we saw 2 brides! We were tired and hungry so we came back to the room to take needed showers!

We decided to head to Darling Harbor for dinner. We had heard that Darling Harbor was the “happening” place to be at night!..and it definitely was! It had a bit of a “Disney” feel to it and it was really cool. There was restaurant after restaurant after restaurant! It was all along both sides of the harbor which has LOTS of lights so it was beautiful reflecting off the water!

We ended up at an Italian place that took FOREVER (we legit waited 45 minutes and this is AFTER we starting timing) but the food was good. We walked around afterwards (even though it was 10pm the place was happening) and ended up at a Lindt chocolate place for dessert (courtesy of the best mom in the world)! There, we saw ANOTHER bride with MY dress on (ok, ok, just a dress I loved!) There were also fireworks going off which was cool but it was sort of hard to see them from where we were sitting.

After stuffing ourselves ONCE again I was the one who suggested we head back as I was exhausted (the bridge climb kicked my butt)!

Hugs and kisses from the Sydney Harbor Bridge!