Australia: Climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge

The Sydney Harbor Bridge at night from near the Opera House.

Wednesday, October 12 against my better judgment Eric and I took on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Since 1998, Sydney has offered foot tours of the bridge not at transit level but along the top of the girders. The Bridge has phenomenal views of the Sydney Opera House and the downtown skyline. Completed in the early 1930s, the Bridge was a monstrosity that must have seemed entirely out of place when completed. Our guide indicated that the next tallest thing on the Sydney skyline wasnÂ’t completed until the 1970s. Like so many great monuments of the world, the Depression offered a chance for the government of Sydney to make a huge public investment and provide all the associated employment. Although forecast to only have a lifespan of about 70 years (which would have put it out of commission a couple of years ago), the Sydney Harbor Bridge is still very operational. Its eight lanes of traffic and train tracks bring thousands of commuters into and out of downtown every day.


The BridgeClimb Headquarters in the arched road leading to the actual bridge.

BridgeClimb takes you on a 3.5 hour adventure that I would heartily recommend. They are an extremely professional organization and were so incredibly organized that I felt safe even at the height of the bridge (35 stories up).





It all starts with a wall of famous people that have completed the climb. Will Smith, the Olson Twins, and Nicole Kidman are but a few of the names and photos that grace the wall. Combine this with the five minute video overview of what to expect, and somehow my anxiety started to decrease. By the time that we actually left the headquarters and began our climb, we were so tooled and harnessed that we were hard to recognize, layered in protection and with things hanging from all points on our body. My glasses had to be clipped onto my suit. We each received a hankie that could be worn on the wrist with elastic. A parka was clipped in bag on the right and a fleece jacket on the left. Our headphones for hearing the guide clipped on back and up over our head. Miner-like hats hung from our neck. A fleece cap hung from our back end.


The view from the top looking back towards the downtown.

Summers bring twenty-four hiking with groups of twelve departing every ten minutes. In the winter and spring, day and early evening tours are the norms. On this particular night ours was the last, starting at 5:15. This was a dusk to night tour.


The bridge from the Rocks, and showing roughly the entire length of the bridge that we traversed.

Climbing up and down through lanes of traffic was the most harrowing part of the experience. Walking on top of the arches was no problem in comparison. For it was on the straight up and straight downs that you were for a minute alone on the bridge and also the closest that you would get to traffic. Somehow climbing from ground level to a height of 35 stories made the top seem less scary than if I were to get out of the elevator to such a view. I was very nervous before the climb and nearly backed out but what a fun experience.


Us with the Opera House in the background.

Sea gulls danced in and out of the BridgeÂ’s lights, circling for bugs and reminding us of the closeness of the sea. Girders beamed with rivets and cross-hatched reinforcements engineered not to protect steams of hikers but that have weathered them well. I wish I had a photo of the impressive clips that they used to allow us to be free and yet always tethered to the Bridge as they were a marvel in engineering. So simple and yet incredibly effective, they would flip over the security line as we walked, rarely causing us anything but slight annoyance and giving security that was needed.

This was a great experience for us and one that many from around the world and Australia are still taking. Our group was a mix of Brits, a Thai, us, three Ozzies, and two Germans.


The official postcard provides a good view of the climb route.

A couple of other interesting things. Because of the active lanes of traffic below, all climbers are required to go through a metal detector and can't take cameras of their own up to the top, or change, or anything. All the photos of us from the top were taken by our guide who attached a digital camera to a little tripod at a couple of points along the way to allow for a steady pic. The guides and staff of this company were just amazing and it was perhaps the most polished tourist experience I've been on. Entrepreneurs around the world would do well to study this organization as a case study in tourism.