Crossing the Old Coathanger

Where   : Sydney Harbour
When    : Friday, 19th October, 11-30am
Weapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3

On Fridays I often go down to my Rotary Club, which meets on a boat in Sydney Cove.  This morning, I took a few shots of the "Old Coathanger". Looking at the Bridge reminded me of the day I climbed it with my son in 2001 - G had bought me two tickets for my birthday.

This icon of Australia was planned and built in the 1930s, and today carries 8 lanes of traffic, a walkway, a cycleway and a two-track standard gauge railway.  I still get a thrill every time I go over it.

Can you see those tiny specs on the arch ... look like a couple of caterpillars don't they ?  Wait ...  turn on the TZ3 zoom drive at 10X ....

Where   : Sydney Harbour
When    : Friday, 19th October, 11-30am
Weapon : Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3

No ... they are two chain gangs !  Ha !

Not too far from the truth - very befitting for a nation that has been built on the sweat and guts of convicts transported from Britain. 

No visitor to Sydney, should miss this adventure. You can cross the Sydney Harbour Bridge on foot, by train, on a bike, by car, taxi or bus - but the best way is to climb right over it !

If you haven't done the Bridge Climb, you really should do this. It's worth coming to Australia just to climb the "Old Coathanger", with its spectacular views of Sydney, the Opera House, the City, arguably the most beautiful harbour in the world and the Blue Mountains. 

It's quite safe. Nobody has fallen off - yet, and yes, you are chained together and to the Bridge ! It's very exciting and very exposed. Yes, I am dead serious, and no - I have no commercial or other connection with this attraction.

It takes 4 hours or so and costs from AUD$180 to AUD$250; you can do the climb at dawn, during the day, in the twilight or at night - if you are real lucky, you may crack an electrical storm while you are in the dark - at the top. There have been hundreds of betrothals, the odd wedding and a few divorces on the span of the Bridge, some right at the top.

The climb takes you up 134 metres above Sydney Harbour, but the descent is a doddle - it's all downhill !  As if you haven't had enough exhilaration and adrenalin rush already, you can look forward to hanging on to the hand rails with your white knuckles for the almost vertical descent down the ladders between the railways lines, with the double-decker trains rattling past within a few feet on both sides - yes, I am very serious. The passengers can see the whites of your eyes and almost touch your sweat and apprehension as they go flying by. This will test your stress tolerance level.

To find out more about the BridgeClimb experience click here. Good luck - and yes, make your will before you leave home, and yes, you will be breathalysed before you're allowed onto the Bridge, and yes - you will need a stiff GT or two afterwards !