Kiwi bridge walk has added spring

GREG Hackett tries out Auckland's bridge climb and discovers those daring Kiwis can't resist throwing in a bungy jump along the way.

Leap of faith .. Bungy jumping off Auckland Bridge is one option open to climbers

FOR someone ill at ease with heights, I've found myself in some precarious situations in this job.

I've tandem skydived the beach at Wollongong, stood in a glass cube hanging out of the 88th floor of Melbourne's Eureka Tower, buzzed around the Kimberley's El Questro Wilderness Park in a doorless mustering helicopter, bounced about in turbulence in light planes on several occasions, and been hot-air ballooning over Melbourne and Byron Bay.

I am now standing on the top of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. It is not the highest bridge walk in the world, but it's more than high enough for me.

We have spent almost two hours climbing in, through, up, down and around the bridge. The AJ Hackett tour guide regularly stops to detail the history, significance and specifications.

It's a box truss construction, 1020m long with a main span of 243.8m, opened in 1959 with four lanes but expanded 10 years later with two-lane, Japanese-built box girder clip-ons on each side. It's interesting, but probably more so to the locals.

I would rather get on with it. I reckon the sooner we reach the top, the sooner I'll be down again – and in the comfy bar back at my hotel.

When I'm 67m above icy Waitemata Harbour in midwinter, I really don't need to know that I'm standing on flimsy-looking steel mesh; the concrete is only a couple of centimetres thick at some places; and the huge clip-ons are only loosely attached.

I'd prefer not to know that the bridge sways half a metre in a strong wind and drops up to 30cm every time a heavy truck passes.

However, the view from the top makes it worthwhile. You can see why Auckland is called the City of Sails: the marina is a magnificent sight, and the city has the highest per capita ownership of boats in the world.

Part of Auckland's charm is that it does not look over-developed. The handful of high-rise buildings that do exist stick out. The most prominent of them is the 328m Sky Tower, claimed as the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere.

Our guide decides to point out the volcanoes. Auckland is built on a volcanic field, with 50 volcanoes in a 360sqkm area. Some could erupt again.

I start thinking about volcanic eruptions: how they are accompanied by earthquakes ... I'm on top of a bridge ... it's time to think of something else.

We take a few happy snaps and begin our descent.

Several of the climbers will do the 40m AJ Hackett bungy jump on the way down.

I will be watching.

The writer was a guest of Emirates.

The Sunday Telegraph