Conquering the Bridge

Photocredit: Bridgeclimb
My wife is afraid of caves. As far as phobias go, this is a relatively good phobia to have. It does not interfere much with daily living. After all, few of us today need to enter a cave in daily life. I imagine she would have had a lot of trouble if she was born during the last ice-age when caves were the "in" thing but it's no inconvenience at all today. I don't get any opportunity to tease her about it cause she just steers clear of caves. Her phobia does extend to tunnels which provides the only opportunity for me to rib her a little when we drive through a long road tunnel. Strangely and sadly, when I try to convince her that shopping malls are very similar to long, covered tunnels, it has no effect on her at all.

I, on the other hand, am afraid of heights (acrophobia) and this gives my wife ample opportunities for merry-making at my expense. Invariably, I find myself trying to conquer my fear on suspension bridges, mountain gondolas, helicopters, fun fairs and mountain climbing. I would be sweating buckets to the sound of my wife's jovial and unsympathetic laughter.

One of her long time desires and my long-term source of panic is to climb Sydney Harbour Bridge. This last week, an opportunity arose and I bit the bullet and got us registered to do the climb. Well, actually, my brother got us registered for the climb and I just whimpered my agreement when he suggested it.

Ah, the things that love makes us do. Well, on the 17th of October 2007, I risked falling to my death, heart attack and/or catatonia and actually climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Now that I have done the climb, I can say with pride that it was a "piece of cake", "a walk in the park". "The 3.5 hour ordeal is nothing." you'll hear me say through clenched teeth. Why, it is a mere 503 meters long and a trifling 134 meters high at it's peak. That's a 134 meters asl. which stands for "above sea level" or as us acrophobics prefer, "above splat level".

As the tour operators will tell you, the first and last 15 minutes of the climb are the worst. You have to physically climb up on scant and shaky ladders and stairs, walk on flimsy, catwalks suspended under the bridge and over both roaring road traffic and the waters of Sydney Harbour. There's also the little bit where you have to climb up between two lanes of the busy bridge road. If you can make it this far, the rest of the climb is indeed a pleasant and exhilarating experience. Walking the arch of the bridge is a wonderful experience which is rewarded by a beautiful panorama.

I recommend going for their dusk climb. You get to see Sydney in daylight, at sunset and after twilight. Beautiful. It also makes the return trip easier as you can no longer see how far above ground that you are. A big advantage to acrophobics.

I believe that climbing the bridge has earned me some bragging rights. So, what did you do last week? Heh, heh, heh.

The Witness Protection Agency presents Mr. Jacko Lantern and Ms. Cherry

The Masked Lone Grey Squirrel and Mrs. Squirrel; "Hand over all your nuts."