Riveting!

This past Sunday we did the great Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. If you're not in the know, it's a climb during which you ascend the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The parental units gave us two passes for my birthday last year, and the experience was great. First they led us through a human assembly line. Seriously, I think I know what's like to be a Ford Model T. As we walked through the building, staff members gave us jumpsuits, took our street clothes, gave us harnesses, clipped radios to our backs, clipped about 7 other items to us, including gloves, a hat, a fleece, a raincoat and even a handkerchief. Since we'd be walking high above traffic, they can't risk someone dropping a handkerchief onto the face of an unexpecting convertible-drive. At least not while the Farrelly Brothers aren't there to film it.


The climb itself took about 2 hours, and the views were incredible throughout. I couldn't bring my camera, but the images are right up here . There were also many interesting stories and facts about the bridge:

• The bridge was completed during the Depression.
  
• Only 16 people died while making the bridge. Of that, only 4 died on the bridge itself... the others died in the shops making the parts.
  
• The pylons (big stone things on the ends) provide no structural support.
  
• The bridge is actually supported by four massive hinges in the ground on either side of the harbour - and you can feel it moving!
  
• Only one person has ever fallen/jumped off the bridge and lived. Vincent Kelly was an Irishman working on the bridge when he landed in the water one day. He was pulled out unconscious, the soles of his boots had to be surgically removed from his feet and the uppers of his boots had to be surgically removed from... ahem. Many people think he jumped just to see if he could make it alive. He was a member of a diving club and asked many people around whether or not they thought he would make it. He did!
  
• There are more than 6 million rivets holding the bridge together.
  

So there you have it. If you get to Sydney, I highly recommend the climb. Oh, and from the top, it's 5.1 seconds away from the water.