Paul Cave

In 1989 Paul Cave was involved in organising a Climb over the arch of Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of an international business convention. It was such a success that the dream of making climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge a possibility for all was born.
The bridge is particularly special to Paul Cave because his late father-in-law, then a teenager, lined up for two days from the 19th March 1932, the day the bridge was opened, and purchased the first rail ticket sold to the public crossing the bridge on 20th March 1932 - ticket number 00001, from Milson's Point to Wynyard Station. No doubt he will never forget the significance of this ticket, or indeed the journey it has subsequently taken him on.
Paul's dream was to involve subsequent years of dealing with dozens of organisations, as well as state and local government bodies, community groups and hundreds of experts on everything from safety and logistics to media, heritage and conservation issues. There were occasions when indeed Paul Cave was the only one who never let go of the dream of BridgeClimb becoming a reality. His vision, commitment, persistence and entrepreneurial skills were fundamental to BridgeClimb's creation.
Finally on 1 October 1998, Bridge Climb was officially opened at a press conference with Roads Minister the Hon. Carl Scully, at Bridge Climb's Base at 5 Cumberland Street, The Rocks. Over 300 people attended, including at least 100 local and international media, descendants of the Bradfield family, as well as long-term bridge workers and consultants and supporters of the long awaited project. The media coverage was widespread and celebratory. Sydney gave BridgeClimb a hearty welcome and this warm embrace has continued.
In 2001, Paul Cave received the Ernst & Young "National Entrepreneur of the Year" award for the "Business, Finance, Property and Services Tourism" category. In 2002, Paul was awarded the National Australian Export Heroes Award. And more recently at the 2002 NSW Tourism Awards for Excellence, the NSW Minister for Tourism honoured Paul with a Certificate of Appreciation for services to the New South Wales tourism industry.