Iconic Sydney

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Sydney Day 5-March 10, 2012



The next morning, I woke up, ate, and headed to Circular Quay. I wasn’t sure where the BridgeClimb office was, so I headed for the Rocks district. Since it was Saturday, they had the markets out, and the harbor and streets were filled with people soaking up the sun. I was glad that I selected an early climb time-9:30-because it looked like it was going to get quite warm that day.

Luckily, once I wandered through the markets, I saw signs directing me to the BridgeClimb. I found it ten minutes later, and texted Anita to see if she was on her way. She called back, stating that she was “somewhere near the bridge and lost.” Uh-oh.

I went into the office, registered, and tried to get some directions for Anita, but as she couldn’t tell what street she was on, they weren’t able to do much. A few minutes later, I found out that she hadn’t purchased her ticket yet, and my group was full. The girl behind the counter told me that they had openings a few hours later, and I would be able to reschedule if needed, so that we could climb together. With that, I set off to find Anita.

Easier said than done! As I talked to her, she had NO idea where she was. Apparently she couldn’t see any street signs, didn’t see any signs on buildings, or any people. I continued to inquire as to what landmarks she could see.

“I see a green boat and construction people on the bridge.”

O-kay.

Finally, I got a street name, found it on my map, and told her to stay put. It looked to be about a 15 minute walk away.

All was going well until a few more streets appeared in person than were on my map. As I circled around, Anita called, and after telling her about a little park that I was by, she got excited.

“OH, I know where you are! I’ll come to you!”

Oh no. I tried to tell her it was basically about ten feet of greenery tucked at the end of a street, but she was off and running.

When I finally found the street, and called her, she was somewhere near the harbor. I asked her if she had a map.

“Yes, but I don’t look at them.”

I had no words.

Needless to say, we played this game for the next hour before she FINALLY recognized the Overseas Passenger Terminal, and promised to stay put. After climbing a huge flight of stairs and walking for what seemed like another hour, we met up outside the terminal.

We made our way back to the BridgeClimb, secured spots on the 12:25 tour, and went back to Circular Quay. After scouring several waterside cafes, we found a stand that sold semi-cheap sandwiches and had a quick snack.

As we headed back for the climb, we wandered through the markets. They were selling everything from clothing and jewelry to souvenirs and food.

When we arrived back at the offices, we checked in, received our free hats, and were shuffled upstairs to a waiting lounge. It was here where we were presented with the prices for photographs-a mere $65!

A few minutes later, we were ushered into a room where we filled out health questionnaires and had to take a breathalyzer. It was pretty silly, we had to count to ten out loud into what looked like an ear thermometer, but we all passedJ

Then we were taken into another room, given our climbing suits and hooks for sunglasses. Since it was warm out, we were advised to leave only our undergarments on in the space suit like jumpers. We had to shake them out in front of the staff before going and changing. Afterwards, the staff patted us down and ushered us through a security scanner to ensure that no one snuck so much as a tissue.

After our patdowns, we headed back downstairs where we met our climbing leader, Rob. He outfitted us with our walkie talkies, headsets, and bungee belts. Then we had to go through a “practice” climb, where he attached us to a bungee cord and had us climb up and down 4 ladders to get used to the proper climbing technique, and how to pull the bungee cord along with us.

Now it was time to climb! I was getting a little nervous. Anita looked a little pale, too.

Rob led us to a water fountain, and then out onto a catwalk underneath the bridge. The width of the walk was pretty wide, and at first it was like walking a pedestrian bridge across a street. Then we turned and continued the walk underneath the bridge for several feet. Along the way, Rob gave his own bridge tour. Although we were several feet high, it was very calm and felt very secure.

Soon we were past the pylon, and had reached the ladders. Like in the simulation, there were four ladders to climb, and it wasn’t bad as long as you didn’t look out to the side. After climbing the 4^th ladder, we were at the base of the arch. It was here that Rob stopped us to take the first of several photo ops.After getting our individual pics taken; we headed up a few steps and sat down, waiting for everyone else to finish. The steps on the arch were wide and flat, and the incline was almost flat. There was about 5 ft. of structure on each side of the railing, so you didn’t feel like you were swinging in the air or anything.

As we sat on the steps in the sun, we chatted with the people near us in line. One of the girls behind us was starting to freak out, but she was quickly distracted by the stunning view-and the wind, blowing our hats off. Good thing they were tethered onto our suits! We all chatted about the cost of the climb-Anita thought it was quite inflated. I added that I thought the cost of photos were pretty high, not to mention factoring in a tip for the guide. The other girl gasped. “We have to tip them???”

Did I mention that I was the only American in the group? That is, the only one being from a culture where we now even are pressured to tip people in public restrooms for handing us a paper towel.

Anita shook her head. “After I paid $212, all he is getting from me is a handshake and a thank you!” she exclaimed.

Several minutes later, the photos were done and we continued our climb. About 10 minutes later, we were at the top! Once again, it was time for photos. As we settled back onto the steps, it became apparent that this was the reason the climb took 3.5 hours.

After pic #2, we walked across another catwalk across the top of the bridge, stopping halfway for-you guessed it-another photo! On the other side of the arch, we began our climb down. Rob tried to keep up the conversation by encouraging us to ask questions and telling stories about the bridges history.

Before we knew it, we were back at the office, where they had a systematic way of disconnecting us from all of our gear. Then we were given a survey and directed to change.

As I headed out, I handed my survey to Rob, thanked him, and after awkwardly standing there, handed him a tip. Noting the look of relief on his face, I wished Anita luck skating by him.

She and I met up in photo sales room, where they actually did offer one pic for $20. We declined, and were given a card to view the pics online free for 30 days, as well as our free group pic.

We wandered through the Rocks markets for another hour, and then headed back to Circular Quay. We parted ways here, as I had to get back and get ready for my show at the Opera House that night.

I ended up walking back to the hotel along Macquarie Street, and through Hyde Park. I laughingly attempted to call some of the restaurants in my guidebook to make dinner reservations before giving up. Word to the wise-Sydney truly is one of those cities that you have to reserve far in advance for the big names.

Once I reached my hotel, cleaned up and rested, I headed back to Circular Quay. I wandered through some of the cafes along the boardwalk before settling at one that appeared to be fairly empty. Once I was seated, I realized that it was a Chinese restaurant.

Oops.I looked at the menu and saw meat, but didn’t look closely enough. I am not a fan of Chinese.

I felt too awkward getting up, so I decided to find something that I could choke down, and had a big glass of wine. Luckily, the dish I ordered, Singapore Chicken, wasn’t too bad. Neither was the chocolate mousse.

Then it was time for the theater! I had selected to see “Midsummer,” which was supposed to be a romantic comedy play. Like I had seen in my tour days earlier, the seats all had a good view, and I was looking forward to the show.

And then the opening act came on, with the two main actors. Soon, it became apparent they were the ONLY actors. After a gratuitous love scene, which I have no problem with, but was so awkward that the audience clapped when it was over, the play took an odd turn. Instead of scenes playing out, the actors would stop and TELL part of the story. It made for a jumpy storyline, and became even weirder when the female lead walked into the audience and had random people read questions to the male lead.

I hated to admit it, but I couldn’t wait for it to be over.

Afterwards, I wandered onto the Opera Bar patio, where I had a drink and discovered the first strong WIFI signal in Sydney. I settled in, updated the blog and Facebook, and people watched. It was still quite warm out, and the place was crowded.

As the evening drew to a close, I headed back to the hotel. Hard to believe it, but my last day in Sydney was approaching!

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Photos

Stacey and the Bridge
Pre-Climb