Sunday 22 August 2010

Sunday...after a busy week.

This week has been one of long shifts and hard play. We have been busy trying to keep the helicopters flying while, on our off-shift, doing compulsory adventurous training. It has certainly been a bit of an eye opener...and the things I have done this week are definitely on a par with stroking a cheetah!

So...picked up at 08:00 and after a two hour drive down tracks and bumpy lanes and a short climb, I ended up here:

Click the Pic!

...and the view was a bit like this:

Click the pic!

...definitely a good way to start the day...

After a couple of hours climbing around the rock-face we went on a further hours drive along EXTREMELY bumpy terrain, through a forrest and down to a riverside spot for lunch. After that we jumped into the river from a 5 metre outcrop and swam down stream a bit, climbing out and scrambling about until we reached the top of a 30 metre waterfall. Once my group were ready we abseiled down the waterfall and had a bit of a swim at the bottom while the rest of the group followed. Now you waould have thought that was adventurous enough...but I guess there are no limits to what you can get up to...so after a bit of a trek further along the river, we found ourselves looking down from a 14 metre outcrop into the clear water of the river. After a brief pointer as to where it was safe to land...avoiding the rocks...we all jumped in! It was definitely a case of overcoming your instincts for me...but I did it...and a further one at the same height followed by another one from slightly lower...

We were very lucky on the day because once we had dried off and started the trip home, a storm broke and there was torrential rain that made getting home quite a slippery driving experience. At least we missed the rain because two days later, the river was so muddy that it wasn't deemed safe for the canyoning...so the following groups didn't get to jump off the high outcrops...which was a great shame for them.

Finally...to top everything off, I have been selected to lead a small group up to a landing site to start the recovery of a rather poorly helicopter. That means I will be driving, cross-country, for about 6 hours with an awful lot of equipment to a place where I will be living in tents and working long shifts...and I only have about 8 days left here. The place I am going is in the African mountains and has really poor signal strength for mobiles and laptops...so if it is quiet here...you'll know why.

Well...that is about it for today...I would have said that I am planning lots of hobby stuff...but I haven't been...all I have been looking forward to at the moment is to get home to my wife and family and regain a bit of normality...the hobby will come, when it comes.

See you through the murky depths...

2 comments:

bandit86 said...

Sound like your having a cool adventure :)

Inso said...

it is certainly that alright...it can also be quite a challenge...but in a good way.