A Tower Tale

Opting out of the walk to Sydney Tower, we hopped on the train to this tourist attraction. We had no idea how long of a line we would encounter. It took about 45 minutes before we got to the elevator. Not only do I have a phobia of germs, count claustrophobia into the mix (remember the Hillsong incident). It was the smallest lift I had ever seen, and again, packed like sardines to reach to the top. I’m thinking this will be a quick ride up, no problem. It was the longest two in my life. The views from the tower were amazing. After about 20 minutes of observing the panorama we waited another 20 minutes for the next lift down. And here we were complaining about our wait. When we peeled ourselves out of the elevator, the line had tripled in size. I’m not kidding. It was a neat experience, but we were ready to call it a day. Below are some facts about the Sydney Tower.

Height: 1000 Feet (Same height as the Eiffel Tower) Sydney's tallest free-standing structure, 2nd in Australia

Year Built: Commissioned in 1968, Construction started in 1975, and Opened in 1981

Race to the Top (1504-step Endurance Race): The fastest time recorded to run up the
Tower’s stairs – 6 minutes and 52 seconds. (Next race is August 29th – I think I will pass on this one.)

The tower has a maximum capacity of 960 people. Travel from the ground to the tower is via three high speed double-deck elevators that reach the observation deck in approximately 40 seconds if on maximum speed, this depends on wind conditions at the time. (Apparently weather conditions were not good. There is NO WAY it took 40 seconds.)

On July 3, 2008: One of the lifts malfunctioned 200m from ground level, trapping the 11 occupants for several hours. (Thank you, Lord, for sparing me from encountering that nightmare!)