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Name: Story Bridge Adventure Climb
City, State: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Telephone: +61 7 3211 3221
Price: AUD$100-$120
What was it like?
A bridge is a bridge is a bridge � until you climb it. Brisbane's Story Bridge is an attractive landmark for the city and a useful means of getting from one side of the river to the other, but now in 2005, some 65 years since it opened, it has gained a whole new lease life as only the third bridge climb in the world.
The Story Bridge Adventure Climb is another example of how Brisbane, the energetic and youthful city that it is, is grabbing at new soft adventure activities for its residents and visitors. The Brisbane River is the current focus for these new activities - the Riverwalk opened up the river to thousands who enjoy their waterside ambles and rides, the Goodwill Bridge is a scenic link between the Botanic Gardens and South Bank and more recently the Riverlife Adventure Centre has added a new dimension with its river-based activities.
These activities mean that a stay in Brisbane can be just that. Pick a nice hotel, enjoy the restaurants and bars, stroll through the parks and gardens, enjoy the world-class shopping and markets and then look down on it all from atop the bridge.
The whole exercise takes around two and a half hours and when you take this into account the $100-$120 price tag is well worth it. Climbers are supplied with all the bits for the climb � the special headsets, a cap if required, custom made overalls and lanyards etc for your sunnies, fleecies for the cold, wet weather gear if its raining and an experienced guide who will take you to the summit and back again, photograph you on the climb and all the while check you are enjoying yourself.
The adventure begins at the Story Bridge Adventure Climb office under the bridge at Kangaroo Point - just past the pub if you need an earthbound landmark. After filling out the compulsory pre-climb indemnity forms and passing a less than .05 breath test, climbers don their suits and are scanned with a metal detector to ensure they haven't hidden any cameras or other devices, which may fall during the climb.
Then it's off to the simulator (a miniature bridge) where climbers learn how to handle their harness and feed the clips over the gates on the static safety wire and get an idea of the climbing surface.
This step completed, headphones are fitted and tuned into the guides' frequency, all gear is firmly attached and the time has finally come and we headed out of the building to the bridge. A lazy local may have dumped it, but the double mattress resting up against the fence near the office was the butt of a joke as to how we would be caught if we fell.
For the cynical, there were at least three people in our group, including yours truly, who admitted to not liking heights and I'm pleased to report we were all delighted with the adventure. Our worst reaction was a slight case of jelly legs after the descent.
The climb is 30 metres lower than the Sydney Harbour Bridge and at the summit you are 75 metres above the ground. There are benefits in less height. Fewer steps to climb for a start, and you can see the faces of the people waving to you from the Citycats as they pass under the bridge on their way up and down the river.
After climbing the spiral staircase and crossing the platform under the bridge to the mezzanine, home to what served as Brisbane's most unusually situated public loos until sometime in the 1990s, it was time to walk up through the tunnel which separates the climbers from the traffic on the bridge, and to start the ascent.
Climbers make their way single file, one hand on the rail and the other guiding the harness rope along the static line, up the anchor arm to the Summit. The climb then takes you down the eastern cantilever arm to the central platform, across above the traffic to the other side, back up to the peak and then down.
The climb is constant, but not difficult, and the sights so remarkable that the exercise is incidental. We even shared the bridge with a mother magpie who kept a close eye on us as we stepped over her two hungry babies in the nest beneath the walkway near the top of the bridge. Flying that day would have been incredibly difficult as it was blowing over 40 knots so we were safe from any bomb diving she may have wanted to do. She has probably moved on by now to a more peaceful setting and less precarious home for her family.
Views aside, my thoughts also wandered to those people who built the bridge. While it is an architectural beauty to marvel at, it's also hard not to look at the expanse of steel and the 1.5 million rivets without a thought to the men who built this landmark. It's a tribute to designer Dr John Bradfield and the labourers that their work has stood the test of time, even with the new level of scrutiny it is now receiving.
The Story Bridge Adventure Climb operates in all weather conditions except in electrical storms and severe wind conditions. Several climbs are offered each day and prices range from $100-$120 depending on the time of the climb and from $75 for concessions. The climb is open to children from 12 years old and over. For more information and bookings visit http://www.storybridgeadventures.com.au
- By Adrienne Costin
If you know of some accommodation we're missing,
review it for us!!
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