Gale & Gang
On our recent trip to Sydney for a family wedding which was absolutely fabulous, my brother, Mark, declared he would be ‘doing’ the bridge climb with his wife, Teresa. My cousin’s daughter, Chelsy, had vouchers for herself and boyfriend, Daniel, and my husband said he would like to have a go with Jane stating she would love to do it again with Jean, our friend with whom we were staying! That left me! ‘NO WAY‘ I stated firmly, ‘Not with my gammy right knee and plantar fascia in my left foot’. Jane, having complete confidence in her mother yet also very protective said ‘You can do it mum – go for it’. Jane worked on me until I relented so it was booked for Tuesday, 6 March, the day before our 37 wedding anniversary – a good or bad omen?
Preparation took a while which was good as then we knew what to do and what not to do. You cannot have anything loose – spectacles/sunglasses are all attached as is a handkerchief or rather a piece of blue cloth on an elastic band around your wrist. It was thought it might get cold so we all had a bag with a fleece inside attached to our waistband. We all wore the same all-in-one suits with earphones so we could hear the guide giving us instructions and information. Our chap, Pete, was a real wag and had us laughing from the beginning and learnt all our names before we set off!
After we had had a practice on the vertical ladders, making sure we knew we had to wait until the person in front had moved off, we were ready to walk down the road to gain access up on to the bridge. We all were secured to the continuous rail by a metal clip which meant we had to stay in our original places and also could not wander about – as if we were likely to do that! Walking along the horizontal girders from the side of the bridge was sort of OK but the vertical ladders (lots of them and exhilarating) were something else. It certainly unclogged my arteries and I wondered what would happen if I popped my clogs – how would they get my body off the bridge – helicopter? After getting my breath back, the hike up the side of the bridge was much easier. We stopped halfway and thought they were flying the Union Jack in honour of all us Brits climbing however as approached the top, we realised it was the corner of a gigantic Australia flag!
The views were wonderful and I honestly think there cannot be a more spectacular harbour in the world especially with the sun shining, it was breathtaking. Photos were taken by Pete (how can you resist a photo of yourself with the Sydney Opera House beneath you?) We then walked across the bridge to begin our descent which was a complete reversal of the ascent. Walking down the slope was great with so many bays (including Botany Bay where Captain Cook landed) and many points of interest. I had forgotten about the vertical ladders and whilst going down was less tiring, it was far more scary with the trains rattling along just beneath. The heart was racing again!
After we had walked along the parapet towards the start we all exited the bridge by slipping our metal clips and belts from the continuous rail – it seemed strange to be on terra firma again! Our guide then told us we had climbed up and down 1439 steps – we were all very pleased with ourselves, us older ones even more so than the young ‘uns. We had to change out of our climbing gear and help each other disconnect the many clips and hooks before we were back in ‘civvies’.
To end a wonderful experience, we returned to my cousin’s penthouse apartment for a ‘Barbie’ (what else, we were in Oz after all) and had a few self-congratulatory beers before bidding farewell to the new bride and groom (who said it wouldn’t last?) who were jetting off the next day for their honeymoon in Tahiti!
Whilst in Sydney, we also caught up with a nephew we had not seen for 13 years and met an old friend who was visiting her new granddaughter, son and daughter-in-law. We visited many places including Manly, Coogee, Queen Victoria Building, Darling Harbour, Doyle’s famous fish restaurant at Watsons Bay, La Perouse as well as the Opera House and Circular Quay which is great for people watching.
Each time I visit Australia, I like it more and more (made more special by my lovely family and friends who live there) but this visit, with the fantastic wedding AND the bridge climb, it was just GREAT. How lucky can you be?