The grass is greener... on the Sydney Harbour Bridge!

As the sun rose above Sydney on Sunday, 25th October, you could feel that spring was in the air. The birds were singing, the cows were mooing and the smell of freshly laid turf wafted through the atmosphere. 

What? In the middle of Sydney? What about the traffic-the noise-the pollution?  Was this the same busy capital city we said goodnight to just a few hours earlier?

As part of a massive tourism campaign by the NSW Government, one of Australia's most famous icons, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, was covered in turf to celebrate the inaugural Breakfast on the Bridge.

The normally hectic six-lane freeway was transformed into a peaceful picnic ground overlooking one of the world's most spectacular harbours.

The lawn may have not been so lush, however, without the use of Syngenta products such as PRIMO^® MAXX, MERIDIAN^® and MONUMENT^® Liquid. The supplier of the turf, Evergreen Turf, is one of Syngenta's customers.

Laying turf 1.16 hectares of turf on the Sydney Harbour Bridge was a mammoth task. It began with months of planning and the preparation.

Graeme Colless of Evergreen Turf assembled a team of 100 workers, including Syngenta's Patrick Madden (Sales Manager - Turf NSW), to lay the turf in three hours and then remove the turf in less than two hours, just in time to allow the traffic of Sydney to flow again."We started the night at 10pm with 100 staff, 16 trucks, two buses and numerous other pieces of machinery arriving at the turf farm for some last minute instructions," Patrick said.

"After travelling to the bridge, and waiting some time for other contractors to finish their jobs, the first rolls of turf went down at 2am.

"Everything was going really well until a car broke through a police checkpoint at Kirribilli and drove across the bridge - and over the turf - with the highway patrol lights flashing behind! 

"We had to jump out of the way to avoid the chase. The footage even made it onto the TV news!

"Thankfully everyone was safe, and the hoon was also safe in a cell at Kings Cross Police Station," Patrick clarified. 

The Kikuyu turf used on the bridge was grown at Pitt Town (an outer suburb of Sydney). It was cut on the Friday into 1.2m wide by 16m long strips, which were rolled up with a backing of Geo fabric to allow easy clean up of the bridge.   

The picnickers had an early start, setting up from 5.30am. They enjoyed a feast of complimentary NSW produce including fresh fruits, breads and yoghurt and were treated to a live milking display with 15 cows on the bridge - an even more unusual sight for city-dwellers. 

Then, at 8.30am, everyone was booted off the bridge so that staff could begin the clean up. 

"Our time arrived again and we had to have the turf up and on the trucks by 10.30am," Patrick said.

"This time it was a little less eventful and we got the job done in just one and a half hours. 

"Luck was on our side with the weather. The day started off beautifully, but as the picnic drew to a close, ominous storm clouds started rolling in. 

"Not long after finishing the clean up, up to five inches of rain fell on Sydney!" 

From 45,000 nominations, only 6000 Sydney-siders won the opportunity to have a picnic breakfast on the Harbour Bridge.  

Syngenta's Yuumi Ishizaki, Procurement Specialist, was one of the lucky people who got to enjoy this incredible experience. 

"The 5.30am start to join Breakfast on the Bridge was well worth it," she said. 

"It was one of the greatest Aussie events that I have been involved in.  

"We started walking from Milson's Point station, and took advantage of the free coffee, which we badly needed by 6:30am, at the freeway entrance. 

"The event included entertainment such as live bands, cows on the bridge, fresh produced foods and beautiful turf to sit on.  

"Many of us brought our own picnic sets with homemade breakfast and enjoyed every moment of this spectacular morning," Yuumi added. 

"I'd have to say 'thanks' to the organiser for ending the event prior to the heavy storm!"  

After the event, forty percent of the turf was laid on parkland at Sydney Olympic Park, while the rest will be sold to the community. 

NSW Minister for Tourism, Jodi McKay, said the event will provide a fantastic international advertisement for the energy and vibrancy of Sydney. 

"Images from the event will be sent around the world, particularly to our key tourism markets," she said.

"It will highlight that Sydney is a unique and exciting destination." 

So now, as well as looking after the some of the world's most famous sporting surfaces (including the "Bird's Nest" stadium in Beijing and Etihad Stadium in Melbourne), Syngenta's turf products have contributed to turning a world-famous bridge into a world-famous picnic ground... if only for a few hours. 

Story by Patrick Madden, Yuumi Ishizaki and Gemma Butler-Fleming. Photos courtesy of Elders Windsor and Yuumi Ishizaki.