Ziplines and treetops

I have now been working 4 weeks at the Scenic Caves and so far it has been a fun and educational experience. The job training has been constant due to the obvious need for safety and the "lectures" we have to give at certain points of the Ecotour take some practice to say the least.
Many of my days have been spent shadowing tours, helping out where I can and staying out of the way when I should. A tour starts in the basement fitting guests into their harnesses and helmets, then outside for introductions and an outline of the tour.
The first tour stop is the suspension bridge where we have a 10,000 sq km view of the area. We briefly talk about Collingwood and its' history and also about the bridge itself and how it was built. Great story actually. The bridge was built in winter of 2003 which made things even more difficult for the workers because work conditions must have tough on a breezy cold day. To start they poured 130 tons of cement at either end of the span. The trucks could not manage the steep hill going down so they were winched down. The two towers were erected and then the difficult job of getting two 8,000 lb cables across the span without touching the land below (the area is a Unesco protected area) required some thinking outside the box. Anyone out there have a guess on how they got the cables across? I'll tell you later on. Once the cables were in place a trolley was used to run along on the cables and place the supports for the I-beams and then finally a deck of 3 inch thick boards was put down. It cost $1,000,000 to build.
Next is a wagon ride pulled behind a tractor which takes us to the treetop walk. The walk has 15 spans between trees or hydro poles with a high point of 55 feet above the ground. Some guests have a tough time on it because it sways and bounces some so if you already have an aversion to heights it can be a scary thing. I have only had one refusal, a lady who after one span was crying so we turned her around and walked on solid ground to the end. Guests get down from the treetop walk by the first zipline which is 340 feet long. It's a short ride but fun one.
Next we go through the caves (they're caverns actually) and talk about the original native inhabitants and some of the geology of the area. On a hot day the caves are also a great way to cool down for a while. The one thing we can't do is take guests through Fat Man's Misery which is a passage in the rocks where at one point is only 36 cm wide, the reason being the harnesses the guests are wearing could get snagged.
Finally it's off to the big 1,000 foot zipline which takes everyone back to the start at 55 kph. It's literally a scream for some people. A tour takes roughly 3 hours and as far as I can tell everyone seems to enjoy it and feel like they have gotten their moneys worth.
For me it's lunch and then a second tour in the afternoon. By the end of the day I am tired and my feet are sore but I should get more used to it as I continue to do it. So far I would have to say it's a great job.
The answer to how they got the cables across? An archer shot an arrow across the span with some fishing line attached. They attached a cord to the line and pulled it across, then a rope, a bigger rope and again a stronger rope until they finally could pull the 8,000 lb cable across.
The new zipline is a few weeks away from completion. The Thunderbird will be 2,500 feet long and is a double zip so guests can go side by side down the line and also control their speed as they go. I'm looking forward to giving it a try.