Lisa Gives Bridgeclimbing a Go!

Mum always had the adventurous spirit so for her big 70th on December 15th, she thought she needed to do something spectacular to celebrate. And what better way than to test herself that to climb the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

I've driven over the bridge many times and lately the bridge has been in the news for its poor state and maintenance concerns. So I was looking forward to being under there first hand and seeing how bad it really is. And hopefully while on our adventure it won't collapse on us just yet!

But first we had to get into our sexy one piece suits. Poor Mum, the first one the instructor gave her didn't fit. Sure sign to diet Mum! Further safety precautions were taken such as wearing of the helmet and the safety harness.

The whole tour took about 1.5hr but it certainly wasn't strenuos. The instructor stopped a few times to tell us the history of the 50 year old bridge and how the council scrimped on the bridge by building only 4 lanes, little did they know how Akl was going to grow and more lanes were needed. That's when the 'Nippon clippons' came to be attached in the 70s to cater for high demand of traffic. Bit scary looking up at the bridge seeing daylight between the main bridge and the clip ons though. As to the structure of the bridge itself, to be honest it all looks very fragile underneath! there' lots of maintenance workers down there patching things up and painting while we were there and doesn't give me much confidence for my next trip over the bridge. But I guess the structural engineers know what they're doing otherwise they'd shut the bridge by now. Sorry to be dramatic, I'm just a worry wort I guess! Back to the tour, sure there were a few steep stairs but nothing that us fitness fanatics can't handle. But for a 70 year old on the other hand, things could've been tough as there were some areas which were challenging. I tested her at some stairs a day earlier to see if she could do them, she had to sit down after 30 metres. But Mum was a trooper at the bridge. She climbed most of the stairs without a problem. The toughest section probably was about 10 metres of stairs going about 60degrees upwards. I was ok but was bit worried that the instructor was puffing!
	We had a great afternoon going up and around the underneath of the structure. It felt strange to finally emerge into daylight with traffic whizzing by on either side of us as we headed up to the top. Once at the top we spent time looking at the amazing scenary which makes you realise what a beautiful city Auckland is on a great day.
It certainly was a memorable day and very proud of my Mum to make it to the top! Happy Birthday Mum Love, Lisa xx 17 Dec 09

Lisa Gives Bridgeclimbing a Go!

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