bridge climb

we’re in sydney right now, having flown here yesterday. it’s quite lovely indeed, with gorgeous landmarks and nice public areas where people are out at night, strolling around. hmc likens it to london, but with good weather. we’ve been noticing recently about how some cities are active and alive at night and some less so, and she thinks that it’s due to the presence (or lack) of communal gathering areas where people can just congregate and be out at night, thus creating a nightlife. places like new york, sydney, and lots of european cities. much unlike los angeles, or even san francisco to a degree. lost angels certainly doesn’t have any sort of city center, and one may argue that it even lacks a true city, but a lot of this may also just reflect on what is seen as entertainment when the cities were most vibrant, or even now. in the past you went out and sat and looked at people and talked to your neighbors. now people sit at home and watch everyone loves raymond reruns to amuse themselves.

today we went on what may be the true sign that i’ve either become whipped or mad: the sydney harbour bridge climb. they outfit you in climbing suits, strap you in with harnesses and cables, tie down anything loose that you’re wearing (provided hat, provided handkerchief, sunglasses), and then you climb up onto the actual harbour bridge, over the top of the actual arch, above the eight lane roadway and railway, 134 metres (442 feet) in the air. given that i’m mildly acrophobic, this sounded like the third last thing i’d ever want to do (1. skydiving, 2. bungee jumping), but everyone we talked to said that it was the most incredible experience and not to be missed, from adrian the pharmacist from our reef dive, to lost angels wife #2 melissa lekus.

i survived, and it was pretty spectacular. the views are incredible, and there are only a few harrowing parts here and there. there are the parts where you’re 49 metres above the road below but still on a tiny catwalk below the bridge, and then there’s the part where you’re making the long climb up onto the arch on these little metal ladders. however, once you’re up on the arch, it’s pretty large and substantial, so you don’t feel bad at all, even with all the trains and the traffic below. plus, the guides are great, very reassuring, and also filling in interesting tidbits about the bridge, its construction, and also other landmarks that you see around you for miles.

luckily we finished before it started raining later in the day, as they do the climb at whatever time you’ve booked it for, regardless of rain or shine, and at night as well. safely back in the bridgeclimb center, we looked at the pictures of people who had gone before us, such as laurence fishburne, prince harry, chelsea clinton, cate blanchett, and al and tipper gore.

at night we hooked up with anthony wong who played jada pinkett’s sidekick in the matrix 2/3. hmc became friends with him during the matrix shoot back in alameda, and he lives in sydney so we looked him up. we went around on a sleepy drizzly night to see the sights, and he took us to a fantastic looking laotian restaurant, pink peppercorn, where i didn’t eat a bite. not that it didn’t look incredibly tasty, but i was still stuffed from having eating earlier that day at chinese noodle restaurant, where we had two noodle dishes (including these amazingly delicious broad flat wheat noodles, which are the best of that kind i’ve ever had!) and a plate of pork and chives dumplings, of which i ate 15 1/2.

between those and the tasty dinner we had the night before at sailor’s thai, every meal in sydney has been fantastic so far!

Posted at December 1, 2004 4:38 PM