I opened my email one day recently and found that someone very wonderful - who knows that I'm on a mission to try new things - had purchased two passes to a treetop trekking adventure for myself and a guest, complete with transportation and lunch. And ZIPLINING!
How amazing is that?
This very wonderful person refused to be my guest.
So, I brought along my very good friend, Naomi.
Naomi is the world's best neighbour. She cooks and shares. And bakes and shares. Makes me laugh. Listens to my endless chatter. Cuddles my children. Takes my dog out for runs. Digs massive holes in my yard when I decide that I want to plant trees. She's also got two fabulous children and a pretty great husband. Standard neighbour stuff, no?
We got ourselves up early and headed out of town to our adventure. Got fitted for harnesses and helmets, had a safety lesson and did some practice moves 5 feet off the ground. So far, so good.
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| Look Ma, no hands! Practicing a fall during orientation. |
Um...one small thing? I'm kind of afraid of heights. And this activity involves being 20-30' off the ground walking on wobbly things that bounce and sway. For a few hours.
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| Check out the beginner's course - wow! We actually ran under part of this during the Warrior Dash in July, and I remember being disappointed that it wasn't part of the Dash... |
Time to WTFU.
Reminded myself that my parasailing adventure this summer proved that I'm not going to die if my feet leave the ground.
Climbed the ladder and headed up into the trees.
This was seriously hard work! There were about 40 of us up in the trees but there was almost pindrop silence the entire time. Navigating through the obstacles took a lot of concentration and involved a lot of problem-solving. Oh - and let's not forget courage...strength... and balance!
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| Just don't look down! |
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| Warming up with what I now know was an easy one |
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| Naomi (centre) all smiles - she's already planning a trip back to try this again! |
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| Steady...steady... Little did I know at the time that this was another easy one. Those barrels, though? Not easy. No sirree. |
I am very proud to say that I finished both the beginner and intermediate courses. Needed a break by that time though - I was so filled with adrenaline that I was shaking! - and waited on the ground while Naomi did the advanced course.
I got a LOT out of this -
- I stared one of my fears right in the face (heights) and didn't run away.
- I got to test out just how strong I am - and was very pleased with the results.
- I got to test out my flexibility, agility, endurance and balance - and was very pleased to see they have improved. Thank you, Zumba!
- I got to work my brain! Focus, planning, control. Check.
Did I get any fun out of it? To be honest, it was so much work that I didn't notice if it was fun or not!
But then we got to the ziplining. AND THAT WAS SERIOUSLY FUN.
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| Honesty, I am having fun - I'm just concentrating REALLY HARD on what to do about the tree that I'm zooming towards. |
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| Naomi heading out on the Big Zip... |
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| ...and me zipping in to the finish line! |
Stepping off the platform on any of these was pretty nerve-wracking, but then...so fast, so fun!
Yep, I'll be back.
To that wonderful person who treated us to this adventure? THANK YOU.
Yikes!!! that looks tough but like oh so much fun!!!! I loved the ziplines we did in Mexico but the other part looks pretty hard. so much fun to push yourself to do something new isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThat looks like SO much fun! Ziplining is definitely something I'd like to do eventually.
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