London bridge is falling down.

I am a little forgetful these days. I leave things behind. The other day, I left my 2 litre bottle of water at the Blue Mountains Backpacker. Just now, I left my heart in Sydney before boarding this flight to Melbourne. This is becoming a habit.

The last two days in Sydney can only be described as fun. Absolute fun. On Tuesday, I did the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb. It was not as physically challenging as I had hoped it would be, but it was good nonetheless. The jumpsuits don’t exactly make a fashion statement, but it is cool nonetheless. You start from the Bridge Climb office behind George Street, receive your briefing, get the equipment and set off with your group and an instructor. Leon, this brit instructor of ours, had a great sense of humour. The others in my group were an American gentleman, a gay English couple and a French girl.

When you look at the bridge before the climb, it is a bit unnerving. To imagine being at the top of the arch, with just a harness attached to the steel handrail leaves you a bit skeptical of your fitness levels. But once you start the climb, it is quite leisurely. One climbs through the side of the bridge, on iron stairs than run between lanes 7 and 8. Cars race past you and the train rumbles the entire bridge every 2 minutes. Once you have climbed to the begining of the upper arch, the view from the bridge replaces anxiety with amazement. The Opera House gets the first right of attention. Then comes Manly in the distance, and the cliff at the entrance of Sydney Harbour – a mere 1km opening into one of the deepest and smallest harbours. Leon compares this to Victoria harbour in Hong Kong and I cant stop myself from smiling. I have some very wonderful memories of that place. As we climb the arch, we stop at regular intervals to hear about the making of the bridge and about the history of Sydney in general. John Howard’s Sydney house is pointed out on the right, and the Sydney Olympic Park on the left. Before we know it, we are at the summit. The topmost point of Sydney Harbour Bridge – approximately 135meters above the harbour. The wind is strong. The view is beautiful. The feat is satisfying.

As we start climbing down, so does the sun. The golden water shimmers and shines. Trains and cars whiz past us as we climb down from the arch to the catwalk. We walk back to the Bridge Climb center, and in three and a half hours, I have seen more of Sydney than in the past three and a half days. Bird’s eye view, of course.

I have a certificate and a group photo from Leon. Very cute. The adrenalin rush has almost subsided, till I step out and look at the bridge. And gosh, I was up there? I actually climbed all the way to the top of the arch? WOW!

Later, I spent some time at The Rocks, meandering through shops and street cafes, sitting by the harbour and watching street performers, and finally making my way to Wynyard, where I met a friend of a friend, and his wife. They took me home for dinner, and over some very pleasant conversation, I ate home-cooked food for the first time this week. By the time I got back to Hyde Park, I was too tired to do anything else but crash.


(written 8 Mar 07, on the flight from Sydney to Melbourne)