Wednesday, 9 January 2013

My first attempt...

This is my first try at creating a blog.
I have been inspired reading the blogs of one person who is battling cancer, and the other of an elderly man who recently lost his wife. I also just finished reading the blog of a colleague who took two of his sons to the States for a holiday and felt that now is the time for me to start one after promising to do so for a long time.
While my experiences pale into insignificance when compared to theirs, there just might be a few snippets that might interest some as I share some insights into my family life, teaching life, holidays and travel and experiences from exercising, a passion of mine.
So, hopefully there might be something interesting over time, or not !!!!
In a few weeks/months I hope to look back at this first post and be amazed at how far I have 
progressed, so here goes...





Conquering my fears...




This is a video taken when I was In New Zealand in 2008 for a work tour of schools. 
I have a morbid fear of heights (even standing on a bath mat has been known to scare me !!) but when our bus was entering Queenstown we drove past a bridge that had bungy jumping. A friend looked at me and raised his eyebrows as if to say "Well, will we?" to which I immediately, and maybe flippantly said "Yes!"
Well, I had now committed myself, so when we reached our hotel I straight away got on the phone and made a booking for the next morning. The person who took my booking asked if I would like to pay straight away on my credit card, or pay on the day after having the night to think it over. No way !!! If I pulled out now I would never do it, plus I felt that if I paid I would hate to lose the $150 odd dollars it cost to do.
I also bought the "Official" video of my jump ( another way of skimming dollars from unsuspecting tourists) which although is good, is not nearly as good as the one I have posted here.
Another friend came on the bus with me to the jump site the next day ( at his own expense mind you) as he was documenting reasons why people do certain things as part of his research for a book he was writing. He used my camera to interview me before and after the event, as well as the jump, and it is better than the official one that I paid for.
What I love most is that he has captured the natural and immediate response after the jump that I will always treasure. He also got me to think about not only what I did, but why, and how it might influence me in the future.
While still terrified of heights, I have been to other places that have tested this fear, but none will come close to providing me with the memories and sensation of this bungy jump in New Zealand. 

The bridge I jumped from. Even walking out onto it scared the crap out of me !




 Going up a mountain to a restaurant in Queenstown. Halfway up the mountain was a bungy jump, which gives an indication of how steep it was.

A view of Queenstown from the cable car. What you can't see are my white knuckles !!

At the top of the mountain. I may look calm, but I nearly crushed the handrail as I was holding on so tightly !


The tower in Auckland (I think!) that I went up with a friend.

The glass floor in the tower, this scared the living crap out of me !

Getting braver.


This tower is in Calgary, Canada. You can see people abseiling down from the top if you look closely. I'd worked up the guts to do it, only to be told it was $5 000 a person !! (It was a major fundraiser)
In the time I was up the top with a colleague, we saw 5 people descend.


Really brave in Calgary.


Calgary


This is the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada.


Looking down from the glass floor in Toronto.


CN Tower, Toronto, Canada. You can see people doing the rim walk at the top. They are harnessed, and lean out over the edge. I was prepared to do it, but the cost was exorbitant.


Helicopter flight over Niagara Falls.


The CN Tower in Canada.


Abseiling in Hall's Gap


Abseiling in Hall's Gap.


Getting closer to the edge at King's Canyon, N.T.


Still not game enough to get right to the edge.


Helicopter flight over King's Canyon, N.T.


This is about as close to the edge you'll get me.






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