The GCW Tour, Sydney & New Zealand: The Iron Lung

I spent most of yesterday on top of, inside of, underneath and on the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It quite the thing. One of the things I learned about it was at the time it was being constructed a number of people started calling it the "Iron Lung," as it was built during the depression and the jobs it created were credited with keeping the Australian economy afloat. (Given America's mediocre economy and crumbling infrastructure, one wishes our politicians had any sense of history -- at all. Anyway...)

The day started with the bridge climb, which comes with it an obligation not to take any pictures. Actually, they basically make you (in privacy) strip down to your underwear, climb into a jumpsuit, and then they clip everything to you. You aren't allowed so much a a kleenex to take with you. (They give you a handkerchief that clips to your sleeve.) In talking with our guide, the driver in all of this is less climber safety than driver safety. They're obsessed with making sure nothing happens -- from falling items to flamboyant outfits -- to distract the drivers crossing the bridge.

And so you get this...

That's obviously not me, but earlier in the day someone else could've taken a similar picture with me in it. The guide does take your picture at a few stops along the way, which you can purchase for way more money than my red, sweaty, puffy face is worth. Oh, and you get a free group shot -- and certificate of completion -- with the ticket price. Here's my group:

Sadly, the picture on my certificate isn't actually of my group -- a bit of miscommunication it seems -- so the world will have to take my word for it that I made it to the top.

If you're ever in Sydney and have a nice day, the trip's worth doing. A bit pricey, but the walking's easy (even three days past chemo) and the views are amazing. Of course, you can also just climb the stairs to the museum in one of the pylons. Also informative (if less so), and also nice views (if less so).

And here are a few more pictures of the bridge from some other vantage points.