Australia-Whole experience of climbing the Coat Hanger

TAKE A walk on the Great Wall of China, ride a camel around the Pyramids, touch the Sphinx, scale Ayers Rock, take in the view from the Empire State Building and Eiffel Tower, have a picnic at the park at the foot of the Petronas Twin Towers and climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge … these are some of the things in my list of fun things to do at some of the world’s most famous landmarks.

The bridge climb was my latest addition of frivolous but fun activities aimed at creating memories and that was after watching it on travel programme Globe Trekker. Yet, it turned out to be the second item on my list to be checked as “been there, done that”.

A late arrival at Sydney and a tediously slow and stringent immigration check before my fellow travellers and I were allowed to leave the airport had us on the rush as restaurants close early on weekdays in most parts of Australia.

I looked for a hint of a smile on the immigration officer’s face after a game of 20 questions. “Is there a problem?” I fired back and it was duly noted as a statement and not a question by the pretty Sheila behind the counter.

“No sir, welcome to Australia,” she said as she handed my passport back to me without making eye contact and with a voice so cold that it would have made penguins feel at home.

Having cleared immigration, we checked into Swissotel at Market Street and, like a bunch of roadrunners, we made a mad dash through several streets to get to a Chinese restaurant at Circular Quay.

While taking in our first meal in Australia, we looked up to see the Harbour Bridge across the water. That’s where I would be tomorrow, on top of the bridge, I told myself.

Morning came soon enough and we were at the base of the bridge. It was a good thing that it was too early for a couple of Tooheys as we were subjected to a breath test to screen out those who were under the influence of alcohol.

Then there was a walk through an airport-style metal detector to ensure that we didn’t have any discardable objects that could compromise the safety of the bridge users. The memory of the night before at the airport still fresh in my mind, I went through the motion rather grudgingly.

After signing the release papers, we were fitted with dull tracksuits and safety harnesses. All dressed up, we went for a rehearsal on a mock-up of a bridge section.

“That’s when my knees buckled,” I remember my political editor telling me about how far he went on the bridge climb. My knees didn’t, and neither did the rest of the groups’.

We started in the bowels of the bridge, making our way up through several steep steps and reached a track of steel mesh with the view of road below us.

It was very much like a day at the gym, taking on the stairmaster, until we reached the highest point of the bridge.

The reward was a breathtaking birds’-eye view of the Harbour and city; plus now I know where starlet Nicole Kidman stays whenever she is in Sydney.

The whole experience of climbing the Coat Hanger, as Sydneysiders call the bridge, took about three-and-a-half hours and cost A$165 for adults.

We descended for our climb certificate and photographs that would make great party conversation. It was trivial but it was funny and I enjoyed the moment.
[ad#ad-4]

Bookmark It