Week 52: A new trail, a dance class and white water rafting
I was worried that I would have nothing for my last week of the year but instead I ended up walking a new trail, attending a Sh’bam dance class and bouncing my way through treacherous waters on my first white water expedition (ok, it wasn’t really treacherous nor was it an expedition but it’s the last day of the year so I can exaggerate a tad).
The first trail was a lovely walk from Rose Bay to Watson’s Bay in Sydney’s East. The day had started off quite dreary and overcast with even a light shower as we drove to Rose Bay. We questioned whether we should turn back home but decided to continue on. Lucky we did because the weather cleared up and even became somewhat warmer than we anticipated.
For the most part, the Rose Bay to Watson’s Bay walk hugs the coastline meaning we were treated not only to a gorgeous view of Sydney Harbour but also sneaky peeks at the mansions that share the view. We finished the walk in just over an hour and a half and then treated ourselves to a nice lunch at a little cafe overlooking Watson’s Bay (also a NEW).
The day after our walk, I decided on attending a new dance class at my local gym called Sh’bam. Sh’bam is a 45 minute dance workout incorporating dance moves from a number of genres including Latin American, hip-hop and even some good old-fashioned cowboy dance moves. For the most part, I managed to get myself coordinated enough to do the steps correctly and I didn’t feel out of place as all the women (bar one) were as uncoordinated or worse than me. I didn’t love the class nor did I hate it. I might add it to my exercise repettoire every now and then when I’m feeling bored.
The last and most exciting NEW for this week was experienced on the last day of the year and that was white water rafting at Penrith Whitewater stadium.
I was quite excited that we were finally going as it was one of the things on my list that I wanted to do earlier in the year but never go around to. I wasn’t nervous at all until we were given the safety talk. That’s when I started to feel shaky. The talk focused predominantly on what to do if you find yourself in the water. This included such possibilities as falling in, being swept down the river, the raft flipping over and the one that had me freaked out the most was what to do if you find yourself submerged under the raft. These possibilities had me questioning why I had thought this was a good idea.
However, once we were on the raft and had gone through the first lap of rapids, my nerves dissipated and I began to enjoy the experience in earnest. Even after my brother-in-law fell in, I still felt confident in my ability to hold on tightly and not fall into the water.
I did however skip out on one of the experiences which was white water surfing which, we were told, had a high possibility of the raft tipping over. I stood on the edge of the river and watched my brother-in-law be tossed out of the raft and then rescued by rope. Dragan quickly followed and was sucked under the raft. I was very relieved to see his head pop up a few seconds later on the other side. Thankfully, Stefan and my nephew Nicky didn’t fall into the water which meant that I didn’t need to resist any maternal instinct to jump in to save them.
Back on the raft for another two rounds saw my brother-in-law take his third tumble into the water. He definitely copped the best dunking of the day!
I am happy to report that I managed to stay in the raft on all of the six laps of the circuit. A great way to finish the year.
52 NEW done and dusted.
Now to decide on next year’s adventure!