the dictionary:
an exciting or challenging experience...
the thesaurus:
1. a life full of adventures: exploit, escapade, venture, enterprise, undertaking, deed, feat
2. in search of adventure: excitement, danger, interesting times, fun, stimulation
Darlings...... You are quite MAD!
Every
time I hear this I can't help but chuckle! As far as I am concerned..... I, and
my wonderful husband are quite normal....
Something
that I do believe quite strongly though is that with the advancement ( as most
people see it) of society, we as humans are becoming softer and to a degree
less able to deal with hardship with the result that what would have been
considered a normal day to day activity, now becomes an abnormal over the top
adventure of mad proportions!
I'm
by no means saying that long distance adventure sport is a walk in the park....
Because that, it is not! But, I have immense respect for the historical pioneers.
They did not have the luxury of carbon fibre equipment, or electronics, or
super advanced nutrition! For them, most of the time, survival only happened
through true grit, mental perseverance and maybe a bit of luck! And one story
that probably shows us this best is the amazing and inspiring story
of Sir Ernest Shackleton, polar explorer extraordinaire! A must read for anyone
wanting to learn about true Perseverance and survival!
But
enough about books etc, I guess what I am trying to point out is, most people
live soft, un-adventurous lives! They have I suppose, forgotten how to live
because society and technology have made life.....easy....
I'm
not a natural athlete... in fact, I'm so far from being a natural athlete it's
scary. I don't even really consider myself an athlete! I just love being
outside, and although I do enjoy to sit in the sun (preferably in a nice
hammock) with a good book every now and again, I can't do it for too long, as
the ants in pants syndrome starts to kick in after a while and I then find
myself thinking about the day being wasted and that I actually want to get out
there and enjoy it! But it's not always that simple! Work tends to get in the
way and then of course I have 'mommy' responsibilities! I am finding it easier
to incorporate Daniel into my 'outdoor' adventures and like it or not, he does
tend to get dragged around with mommy either in the canoe, or off-road pram....
Which with his increase in size is becoming more challenging with each outing!
I find myself regularly In a bit of a catch 22.... I can't wait for him to be
big enough to actually ride his bike either with me or ride with me whilst I
run, but then also find myself getting sad at the rate at which my baby is
growing! Typical woman, never knows what she wants!
With
Hanno having slightly more serious race commitments and expectations than me,
his training does tend to take first priority, but I do still manage to fit in
sessions, though not nearly as many as I would like. My biggest problem is that
I tend to think I am GI Jane and that muscle memory or my head will get me
through most things! I haven't always been like that though. The more long
distance and challenging things you do, the more you think you can do and the
more you learn what your mind and body are capable of, not always a good thing
as sometimes I bite off more than I am physically prepared for, resulting in a
broken body!
This
year has definitely been a better one for me on the health and fitness front!
Last year was just horrible! It kicked off on the wrong foot and I was plagued
the whole year with sinus and bronchial infections resulting that I never
actually felt well enough to do any serious sport! But, that is all in the past
and so far 2013 has been fantastic, with many amazing adventures!
The
main focus for the first half of the year was Expedition Africa, a race I did
for the first time in 2011. This year, it was to be held in the majestic
Drakensberg, a place which is not only extremely beautiful, but also extremely
harsh, and taking place in May, cold was going to be added to the list of
challenges! Training build-up started early in the year as did the challenge of
trying to put a team together, something which is actually harder than one
expects, as to find four fit, healthy, like minded individuals who have the
time, finances and most importantly the right mental attitude and whose
dynamics would gel.....is hard!
Slowly
but surely I managed to assemble a team...and hoped that everyone would get on
and all be on the same level mentally and as far as possible, physically too!
Our
first big challenge was a training weekend in the Transkei. We were lucky
enough to be able to piggy back on a training weekend organized by Hanno's team
Captain for their team (Tweet was out due to injury).
The
weather forecast was bleak.....rain, rain and more rain! It didn't disappoint.
It start as we arrived at Kei Mouth and only stopped when left Kei Mouth three
days later! It was however the best possible preparation weekend we could have
asked for!
The
weekend, although tough, was not without its fair share of entertainment! And
it all started with our camping at Kei Mouth. Everything was wet and dripping
and whilst getting my stuff ready under the Gazebo, a huge crab somehow founds
its way into one of my team mates bags! With some help from one of my hiking
poles, I eventually managed to get it relocated. Based on the increasing number
of crabs, and the amount of water inside our tent, we all decided to go sleep
under the veranda roof of the local bowling club, which was right there. Before
going to bed I went to find Hanno, who was sleeping under their team Gazebo, to
say goodnight. I told him to watch out for the crabs to which he answered, I'm
not scared of crabs! When I woke up in the morning, Hanno was now sleeping with
us! When I asked him about this during the night relocation, he said with
absolute indignation, 'man, I woke in the middle of the night with something
crawling on my head! When I put the light on, I saw the biggest friggin crab
ever crawling onto my face! Needless to say, I nearly wet my pants!
We
started at sunrise with a short paddle up the Kei River (in the rain!) then we
'negotiated' our way across the river, having left our boats at a lodge and up
a really steep and already slippery path to a settlement where Tweet was
waiting with our bikes, and then mud fun and games began in Earnest! We learnt
a few VERY valuable lessons about route choice.... The shortest route on paper,
is not always the shortest route time wise and that single track paths through
valleys in the Transkei generally are places to avoid....especially when it has
been raining solidly for 24 hrs!
The
path slowly but surely became little more than a figment of our imagination,
with the downward gradient increasing as well as vegetation, we soon found
ourselves sliding/crawling through spikey bushes and thick mud in pouring rain
and mist, hoping we were in fact traveling in the right direction! After a few
river crossings and lots of stopping to orientate the map and peer through the
rain and mist, we eventually popped out on top overlooking a series of valleys.
We stopped a local girl to verify that we were indeed where I thought we
were..... According to her, we were not at all where we thought we were, in
fact, according to her, we were miles away from where we thought we were! To
me, this was just plain impossible. I refused to believe that I could be that
crap at navigating! I told the rest that it was impossible and that we would
carry on in the direction I thought we should be going......and a good thing it
was because a few minutes later, we popped out right at the checkpoint! This
was a huge boost to my confidence and we set off once again in the pouring
rain! Once back on a road, our progress was relatively quick and it wasn't long
before we had clocked in with Tweet and the others, putting on dry socks (what
for I don't know as they were wet within minutes) filled up with food and
headed off on what was to be about a 30km hike.
With
light fading, and the rain showing absolutely no sign of letting up, it was
going to be a long, cold and interesting night! The first check point was
relatively easy to find. When we were at the check point, looking at the map,
deciding which was the best route to follow, and very intoxicated local joined
us, breathing enough fumes to knock out an entire rugby team! Eventually
however, we managed to loose him and we carried on our way. We had in the mean
time spoken to Tweet and been advised not to take the inland route as Hanno and
team had done this and struggled immensely through thick forest with paths
going in the wrong direction. I think that now might be a food time to add some
very important information regarding our 'route!' You see, normally, a
race organizer actually does the entire route himself, physically biking and
hiking every km to ensure that all the route choices are actually doable and
that the check points are accessible ! Being in the Transkei and having an
injury meant that Tweet was not able to do this.... so the route was designed
on Google Earth...
So,
after consulting the map, we decided to rather head for the coast than struggle
through the dark and through valleys similar to what we had been through during
the day and through forests with no roads. After a rather scary and close
encounter with some locals en-route to the coast, we eventually arrived at Cebe
Mouth. Our next challenge was a swim across the Cebe River
Mouth...something which I had been dreading since our decision to head to the
Coast! I Don't do river mouths at the best of times, and flooding river mouths
in the Transkei, in the dark even less so! They are so far down on my TO DO
list, they don't even feature! But, luckily I was not alone. I very quickly
realized that my team mates were just keen to not swim as I was! We decided to stop
for an hour or so, get warm and have a bit of a sleep as it was now about 1am.
We eventually found an open container (Renovations were on the go at Cebe) with
some big window frames and heaps of goat droppings inside. Out came the
sleeping bags and space blankets, we stripped off and tried to get some shut
eye and it wasn't long before there was a symphony of snoring.... But try as I
might, I could not sleep! Having spoken to Tweet before we settled down, it was
decided that we would go south to the Jakaranda wreck, some 20km down the coast
and meet him there instead of going north to Mazeppa. It was going to take too
long for us to get to Mazeppa.
Going
south meant lots of river crossings, and with the heavy rain which had now been
falling for over 24hrs, all the rivers would be flooding!
It's
not so much the water that was making me so scared, I love water and I'm a good
swimmer, it's what is in the water! The Transkei coast is notorious for sharks,
and river mouths tend to be a favorite hangout for sharks, and well, a flooding
river mouth is like a Cordon Bleur extravaganza for sharks! (In case you hadn't
noticed I'm terrified of sharks!)
After
2hrs of hoping the rain would at least let up a bit, we got dressed in our
remaining dry clothes and headed out into the dark and the rain! The going was
easy, albeit it wet and muddy and we were treated to the most beautiful stormy
sunrise along the coast. We hit the first big river crossing just after
sunrise. There was no option but to swim! I told the rest that they had two
options, they could either swim across with their only semi- dry clothes on and
be soaking wet and salty for the rest of the day, or they could strip off, put
their semi-dry clothes into their dry bag and have dry-ish clothes for the rest
of the day (bearing in mind it was raining of course!) I knew which option I
was going to take so with clothes in my drybag and nothing on but my birthday
suite, I proceeded to break the world record for a 100m swim across a flooding
Transkei river mouth with a backpack! Our swim happened to be right at the
Wavecrest holiday resort, and being Easter weekend, the resort was rather busy.
But being early and really horrid weather also meant that most people were
still tucked warmly under their duvets.... Well most that is. Upon arrival on
the lovely lawn at Wavecrest, in my birthday suite, we were greeted by an open
curtain and a row of little faces... Peering at these clearly mad adults
swimming naked across a flooding river in the pouring rain. Then they
disappeared to be replaced by the mothers face, she waved excitedly and
disappeared to be replaced by dad.... Dad didn't seem to be as enthusiastic
about us as the mom.... But then again Janine and I were at this stage almost
dressed and all the dad got was the two white bottoms of Ico and Marco!
When
walking out through Wavecrest I spot a car with a CX registration.... a person
can never hide!!!
After
another slightly longer swim where I once again broke the backpack swimming
record, we eventually reached the Jakaranda. To our amazement, we heard that
Hanno and co had not yet arrived. When they eventually arrived, It seemed they
had had a nightmare of a hike the night before to get to Mazeppa and when they
eventually arrived, had been through even worse on the bike to get to
Jakaranda. I didn't want to hear of their death defying stories! I was just
glad they were all safe!
We
set off on our bikes and Hanno and team set off on foot. The roads had now
deteriorated so much, that it was like riding in glue. When we got to the
transition, Tweet wasn't there and after a phone call we discovered that the
axle had broken on the trailer. We trudged back to the main road to meet him
there. Once the bikes were loaded onto the already very dodged looking
trailer, they set off to see if they could get the trailer sorted out and we
set off back towards the river.
We
certainly made for an entertaining site. Me with raw feet from all the mud in
my cycle shoes on all the hike- a - bike sections, Ico with severe Chaffe from
mud in his cycle shorts and hiking in them!
Walking
down the steep grassy slope to the river, one could hear water rushing
everywhere. The Kei River below us had risen considerably and was now a great
big swirling brown mass. The path down was no longer a path but now a river in
its own right! My main concern was the valley below where the path went. Bundu
bashing if the valley floor was flooded was not really an option! We eventually
made it to the bottom, after much slipping and sliding and now it was our final
swim accross. The river is about 100m and I was terrified of swimming accross!
But, it had to be done! This time, knowing that we only a few km from the
finish, we kept our kit on and waded into the water. Surprisingly it was still
shallow enough for us walk accross! Ico chose to go accross where the river
came down through the valley..... I was staying as far away from 'rich' water
as possible for fear of whatever opportunistic water creature might be lurking
there! When we were nearly accross Janine said for the first time, perfect
conditions for Sharks everyone! I just laughed and said asked why they thought
I had been sprinting accross all the rivers?
Once
safely on the other side, we resembled mud men as we were brown from head to
toe! The mud in the shallows just about swallowed us and at one point Marco,
who is incredibly tall, all but disappeared in the mud when he slipped!
The
wind had picked up and the paddle back was hard! But eventually, wind swept,
salty and a little less muddy, we arrived to much cheering and smiles at the
slip way at the mouth 34 hrs after our departure the previous day!
It
was the perfect training weekend and a great test and learning curve for us
all!
Thanks
Tweet, Bruce and Emil for doing the backup, without you guys, it would not have
been possible!
Thanks
to my team for sticking it out and the laughs along the way!
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