We had been looking forward to the Story Bridge climb but on the day we had booked Brisbane was having terrible rain and storms. We rang to see if it was still going ahead and were told that they only cancel for electrical storms and that we would have to attend the briefing after which it would be decided as to whether it would proceed or not. When we arrived for the 'sunset' walk at 4pm it was already dark, the rain was pelting down and the weather forecast was predicting worsening storms, flooding and lightning. To our surprise the team insisted that we still do the walk, refusing to reschedule or refund the money. We had to change into 'climb suits' that smelt a bit musty, as though they haven't been cleaned for months. We were given 'rain jackets' that the girl cheerfully told us would offer no protection and yet people weren't allowed to wear their own protective rain gear. We had a cap and a hanky tied to our wrists and off we went. Just getting from the base building to the base of the bridge we were wet. Still there was no offer to cancel. We did the climb - the metal stairs were wet and slippery, by the time we walked 30m we were wet through to the skin (by the end of the walk even our underwear had to be wrung out as it was so wet). The guide tried to talk and explain what we should be seeing but all you could see was black sky and it was so cold because we were so wet that it was unpleasant. In the end we all just wanted to keep moving. It was almost annoying having to stop for mandatory photos as it continued to get colder ... although we couldn't get any wetter. The photos were a waste of time as it was so dark that they turned out blurry and with rain drops on the lens of the camera you couldn't see much anyway. For those of us wearing glasses it felt unsafe at times as the rain was pelting on the lenses, you couldn't wipe it off as everything you had on you (ie the hankie they tied to your wrist) was sopping wet and so visibility was extremely poor. The lighting on the bridge was suboptimal particularly when you were climbing down stairs as we were so close together a lot of light was blocked out ... at times you couldn't see where to position your feet.
All in all on a good sunny day this is probably a great activity but the fact that you have to pre-book and then they won't cancel makes it terrible. When we eventually returned we were cheerfully told that they cancelled the walk after ours as the weather got worse but since we were already out on the bridge there was no point having us return we just had to complete it.
I think perhaps they need a senior manager on site who actually has common sense as the young team they had seemed 'scared' to consider cancelling as it was against company policy. There is no way what we did that evening was actually safe and if someone had fallen or tripped on the wet stairs I don't think their refusal to cancel would have been defensible.
