When I started my working holiday in Australia I arrived in Sydney and the first thing I saw was the Harbour Bridge with the Opera House. It felt surreal and it still kind of does.
When I heard that you could do a Harbour Bridge climb I started to look up prices (starting from 148$) and wow that was a bit expensive for a backpacker so I decided to think about it and look what I had left after my year because I would leave from Sydney anyway and I thought that would be the perfect closure.
My year had almost passed and I still thought it was a bit expensive but after asking around people said it was definitely worth the money. So when I made a friend and she also wanted to the Harbour Bridge climb I thought this was the perfect opportunity!
Because it would be expensive anyway we wanted to do the whole experience and not just the cheapest one and also the lowest walk to say we did the walk because lets face it. That isn’t the Harbour Bridge Climb experience.
After asking a billion of questions at the front desk we decided on a time and date (20/11/2014) for our climb. Book on time because it is always pretty busy.
Here we also got a free entrance for the Pylon Lookout and you can do it whenever you want.
They told us to arrive 15- 30 minutes before departure to check in. When we did that it was time to wait until our guide arrived. She took us inside where we got a safety talk and an alcohol breath test. That’s right, you can’t do the walk if you had something to drink! She also asked if people needed any medication with them on the climb and that they could give it to her and she would bring it with her. We weren’t allowed to bring anything except (sun) glasses, which would be secured onto you. Then it was time to change into our ‘jumpsuit’.
When changed we also got a hat and a handkerchief. We had to secure everything onto our jumpsuit so nothing could fall down and hurt anyone.
After that we went into a different room were we got our security belt which secured us with the bridge. Here we got headphones so we could hear our guide talk.
Then it was time to do a little indoor climbing. Like how to walk down the ladder, click from one part to another etc. I thought it was all logic but not everyone thought so, so even when you think it’s stupid. Other people will think this would be very helpful. Oh and of course my friend and I needed to pee when we were all ready to go.
And then it was of to the bridge! The first thing I thought was ‘wow this is loud!’ because of all the cars, duh.
Our guide took her time, told us the history about the bridge, let us ask questions and took lots of pictures.
I thought it would be scarier but where you are walking is pretty wide so you don’t have the feeling you would fall off. Which I thought that would be the case. Plus you are secured to the bridge so there is no need to be scared at all. Unless you are afraid of heights then I can understand you would be scared.
After around 2-3 hours we were back changing into our clothes. Yes you will only have your underwear underneath the jumpsuit and believe me you will be happy that you weren’t wearing more clothes underneath it.
When we left we got a climber certificate and a group picture. Unfortunately you have to buy the individual pictures and of course it’s not cheap… We decided to buy them (14 in total) and put it on a USB and divide the price in 2. Which was way cheaper than buying it separate. Another good reason to do it with a friend ;-).
After that we went to the Pylon Lookout, which has a little museum and an amazing view. At the end there was this theater that showed a video of the opening of the Harbour Bridge, Harbour Bridge climb etc.
Conclusion: the Harbour Bridge Climb is expensive and the extra cost of the individual pictures suck but it is still worth it. However if I didn’t had a budget I would have chosen for a twilight, night or dawn tour because you see a lot at the Pylon Lookout except you are just a bit higher on the bridge. So doing the climb not during the day would be pretty cool as well and a different experience.
What do you think of this view?!
Do you think the Harbour Bridge Climb would be worth the money?
Ik vind het heel duur, maar het uitzicht is prachtig.
Author
Snap ik! Daarom zou ik de Pylon lookout zeker aanraden. Dan is 13 dollar niks.