Twenty-four years, three cars, one shaft

I started on the lifts in 1999. Before that I did conveyors in a warehouse, which is the same trade with worse coffee. The tower job came up through a friend who ran the maintenance crew, and I stayed because the machine was interesting and the view from the machine room was better than any office I have ever had.

The work is not glamorous. You check the ropes, you check the brake, you check the door interlocks, you log it, you do it again next month. Most days nothing happens, which is the point. The days something happens are the days you remember: the storm in 2011 when the deck closed and we rode the cars down empty, the summer the door sensor failed on the harbour car and we ran two lifts for a week with a queue down the lobby.

I retired last year. My shoulder went first, then my patience for night shifts. I still have the keys to nothing, which is how retirement should feel.

Why the guide exists

My daughter set this up in April 2024. I wrote the words in a notebook at the kitchen table and she typed them in, and then we argued about fonts for a weekend. The point was never to compete with the operator's website. The point was to answer the four questions that a brochure will not answer honestly: how long, how crowded, what if it is foggy, and is the glass floor going to ruin my child.

I have no sponsor, no affiliate deal and no tickets to sell. If that changes, this page will say so at the top in plain language.

If you want the machine in detail, start with The Elevators. If you want the day planned, start with Plan The Visit.