Our group fell silent at the base of a narrow steel ladder that rose vertically through the maze of girders at the south-east end of Australia’s Sydney Harbour Bridge. We needn’t have worried about the first part of the climb. Up to this our guided tour had been little more than a stroll but now our task was to face the ladder. It must have been at least fifty feet high. There were handrails and our safety belts would be tethered to a cable to a fall but the water couldn’t have been less than 250 feet below us and the of climbing was daunting.
What lay at the top was stepping out on to the exposed upper arch of the bridge, with blue sky all round and the water almost 262 feet below. We ought to have found this out before embarking on what now seemed a singularly mission! I have to say that my own was extreme, but, on this sparkling morning, I saw no option but to climb to the summit of one of the world’s best-loved icons – a miracle of engineering recognized by people everywhere.
As I climbed the tension out of me; I was driven by an exhilarating feeling of conquest. At the top, I dropped my to the vast pool of the harbour below. It might just as well have been a mill pond from this height. We stood on a small viewing deck in the warm sunshine, with excitement and arms raised as our guide took a celebratory photograph.