After
we'd eaten we took a short wander to the yacht
club at the end of the street,
and then cut across to the shopping area where there's a taxi rank,
since it was already 4.15pm and we had to get back to the city,
get changed and walk down and check in for the bridge climb by 5pm at the
latest.
The taxi driver took us the shortest way, through the new cross-city
tunnel,
and we made it with a few minutes to spare.
As with
the tower, safety precautions prevent you from taking a camera on the bridge,
so these are the "professional" pics taken by our guide at various
locations along the way...
Unfortunately
(well, in some ways !) Sunday was grey and overcast all day,
even though it was warm, so the view from the bridge wasn't as sparkling as
it could have been,
but on the other hand, it wasn't too dazzling or hot, so really that was a
bonus.
They did advise us to take off any jackets and long pants because the
humidity was 72%
and they didn't want anyone passing out !
So we just wore the suits, similar to the Skywalk ones, over t-shirts.
They supply a fleecy jacket in a pouch which is attached to the back of
the suit,
just in case anyone gets chilly, but I didn't wear mine at all,
even though most of the other climbers had put them on before the descent.
The climb
really isn't difficult, except for one part where you have to go up four
ladders,
one after the other, each with about twenty closely spaced steps.
Once you're up there, you're on the incline of the top span of the
bridge,
which has level steps attached so that it's just like walking up a
long, shallow staircase.
You stop several times along the way for commentaries and photos, so there's
plenty of "breathers".
Our guide told us this was his third climb for the day... the maximum
they're allowed.
But he looked as if he could easily go three more !
He was running ahead to set up cameras and running back to the group.... no
problems !
The
view from the top is absolutely spectacular, and they give you plenty of
time to soak it all in,
while relating lots of interesting history of the area, stories about the
bridge itself and its construction,
and answering any questions. One of the climbers was celebrating his 50th
birthday,
so we all sang Happy Birthday to him at the summit !
Back
down on the ground 1,439 steps later, and de-suited by about 8.45pm,
we stopped on the way back at McDonald's for a quick snack.
They'd run out of the veggie patties for their veggie pesto,
so I just had the bun with some salad in it and Bill had a burger.
Back at the hotel by about 10pm, we were juuuuust about worn out for the day
!
