I was born in Australia, and I have lived in Sydney virtually my whole life (a long time!). But recently, I had one of the most terrific experiences of my life. Being a resident of your town or city, you don’t tend to do the ‘touristy’ things. You get caught up with just living your life and all that entails, and people who visit your city end up seeing more of it than you do.

Well, I changed all that! I climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge!

It’s been on my list for a long time (since 1998 when it opened), but I never really got around to getting organised. However, while you are on your working holiday in Sydney, it’s a must do (and I am in no way an employee of BridgeClimb).

I was very proud, as an Aussie, to experience such a well organised attraction and also to be one of the few Aussies in our climb group,  as we shared our climb with two Americans, two Germans, one New Caledonian and two Brits.  We also had the perfect spring day, after a lot of rain, so that cleaned everything up. But note: BridgeClimb does not stop for most inclement weather, and it even runs at night. I should mention that they kit you out in an array of gear to keep you cool, warm and dry.

It really is the perfect way to see Sydney, to learn about the Sydney Harbour Bridge’s history and meet a few of the locals at the same time. You can go in daylight, twilight, night time or at dawn.  It’s incredibly easy to book (www.bridgeclimb.com), and it’s located in the historic Rocks area, so you can have a great meal either prior to or after your climb.

Sydney has a lot to offer you while you are here, but make sure you put climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge near the top of your list.

Written by Manda Milling, people2people Director.