We did it!

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Well we did it!! We climbed the Harbour bridge and jumped off it at the end (and before mum drops her tea and toast - this was only a 2 foot jump at the end!!).

We had a quiet night last night - dinner at a lovely restaurant called Italian Village at Circular Quay overlooking the Opera House and then we went to a lovely bar further round the Quay for a drink - G was feeling tired as he had not had the long lie in the morning like me or the snooze on the beach so we decided to leave the Opera Bar until we return to Sydney at the end of our trip.

Once we got back to the hotel we packed our cases as we are off to the Blue Mountains today (and were very pleased we brought 3 cases as they seemed a lot more difficult to shut compared to when we left Selkirk) and headed off to bed with the alarm set for 6.15 as we would have to check out before heading for our climb.

When the alarm went off we wondered whether the climb was our brightest move - both getting up so early and the realisation that we will be standing on top of the huge structure that we watched the fireworks from. However, after deciding that we were sure it would be like the sunrise snorkel trips we have done (the worst idea in the world when you get up and set out on the boat but the best thing ever once you are there), we showered and trotted for breakfast where I will have disappointed Dad by only managing some fruit and a bagel - not only was I worried that there was no toilet on top of the bridge I was getting a little bit more nervous every minute.

When we arrived at the bridge, which seemed now so much bigger than it had ever seemed before, we checked in for our climb and were directed to the waiting area and the last toilets this side of the climb. I trotted there once or twice during our 10 minute wait for our start. When our climb was called us, and 10 other rather nervous looking tourists went to room 1 (there are thousands of people who climb the bridge - 12 every 15 minutes). Here we filled in the disclaimer form and also had our breathalyser test - we were told to count to 5 with the machine held in front of us. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud as the first tourist paid no attention to this information and blowed into the machine which caused the little assistant to have to reset the machine! We passed with flying colours (I was relieved that there was no residual new years eve champagne - or bubbles which is the Ozzy term) and then proceeded to room 2. Here we had to stand on a yellow dot and were presented with our all in one climb suits (like something from star trek) and told to take of all our clothes as it was so hot and change into these with the zipper at the back in the changing rooms. G asked again if this meant taking off his T -shirt and the girl said that would be best as it was so hot (I reassured him that they would definitely have been washed!). 2 minutes later I was dressed in the stupid looking suit (but with diesel trainers) and G emerged complete with zip up the front!! 2 minutes later he was turned around and ready to go.

We then put all our things into our locker as you were only allowed to take things for medical purposes up with you (I clarified and mobile phones are not required for medical purposes apparently) and were ready to move on.

We then moved to room 3 where we met our instructor (Scott who was excellent) and directed to the rest of our clothing which all clipped to our suits - hat, glasses string and hankie. We then stepped into our belt where we clipped on our safety harness thing (I checked there were no frays) and moved along to the radio station where we were given vibrating headphones so we could hear Scott throughout the climb and our radio. G looked instantly excited by the radio and the next thing I heard was a dee doo from his radio which he had been playing with all the buttons on, and then oops! I said well I hope yours still works but was mortified when Scott told us all to turn around and place the radio into the pocked at the back of the belt of the person in front of you as that meant that I would have had the one G had been playing with!!! It seemed to work fine though. We then headed up the practise stairs and along the practise platform to try walking and climbing with the safety rope which was clipped onto the steel and the side throughout. This seemed easy enough.

We then moved along to the doorway and Scott asked if anyone had SS syndrome and if so should go near the front. When he clarified that this stood for shit scared I trotted to the front along with G and was shortly followed behind by a woman from Birmingham who was also SS.

We headed out of the practise building through the pillars and were told to clip our safety harness on at which time I knew that this was it. The first step out was really scary as the platform was mesh and seemed to me to be quite high up but everyone else seemed to take this in their stride as it was only about 50 feet up as we started up the hill. So on we trotted over towards the water and the steps (the start of the real climb). These didn’t seem too bad at first as they were just like normal steps but soon we came to the ladder type steps and these were ultra scary and this was even worse when we climbed up through the road seeing the cars on either side. After about 8 sets of these ladders we were above the cars and onto the bottom of the arch on the roof and the view really was amazing - totally worth it. The climb up the arch was quite easy compared to the ladders (although still gave me shaky legs when I looked up to see how high I was going or down to see how far we had come - 150 metres up) and we posed for our photos to prove that we did it, were shown all the sites by Scott from the roof and waved to all the people in the boats on the harbour who were frantically taking pictures of us fools!

When we came down (which was easier than going up) the whole group was really happy at our achievement and we received our photo and certificate and went for a celebratory stubby.

We headed back to the hotel picked up our cases and got a taxi to central station and are now on the train to Katoomba where I am writing this. As we have a 2 hour journey I am going to pass you over to G who will give you a better insight to the Bridge (I was more concentrating on holding on than listening to the facts)!

Bridge facts from G:
1. The bridge is the heaviest and widest in the world- but only the third longest single-span (as opposed to suspension) bridge.
2. The pillars at either end have nothing whatsoever to do with holding the bridge up - they were solely added as the public at that time thought that steel wasn’t strong enough to hold cars - bricks and mortar were needed.
3. Each of the four arcs of the bridge are strong enough to support the weight of two Eiffel Towers each!
4. Despite this, the Opera House is actually heavier.
5. Each day 260,000 cars pass over it.

We are now in the Blue Mountains (with internet access) and they are really spectacular - you really would not believe that you are only 2 hours from Sydney. Our hotel is also lovely and as our room was not ready on arrival we got free wine and bubbles so that started us off well.

We then headed out for about an hour walk looking at the sights near to the hotel which you will see from the pictures are great. I wont tell you too much as that is what we will be exploring all day tomorrow.

We then came back and had our first swim of the holiday in the hotel pool which was lovely after our walk around the mountains and our climb this morning.

We have dinner booked for 8 so are having some bubbles first and will then head down and back out to see the 3 sisters again tonight as it is only 5 minutes walk from our hotel and apparently beautiful all lit up at night. G said homer would love the menu here!!!!

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