Rest Day again
Just as well I'm an active relaxant! Today dawned, another 'rest day' so four of us decided to go canyoning. For those who haven't experienced this adrenalin buzz, it is following the course of a river through a gorge. Sounds simplistic but involves nerves of steel, and the ability to count to 3 and then despite what your good sense is telling you, to jump - or slide, or abseil.
This time we were lucky enough to have dry wet suits - we looked a treat in wetsuit socks, boots, wetsuits, helmets and abseiling 'nappies'. Starting with a 10 minute hike in the forest with a lot of up (lucky we were carrying our jackets and not wearing them, seriously strenuous walking, it would have been sauna stuff if we had layered up completely - great advise from the guide).
We were given a quick lesson in the gear - maybe too much knowledge is a dangerous thing- lowered ourselves down a rope and were told to then jump from the ledge - no ordinary ledge, a slippery one with a lip which required a decent thrust to get out far enough to land in the pool! I know from experience that you can only hesitate for three seconds before you lose your nerve - and I jumped! I think it was about 3-4 meters - then rounded a corner, through the forest and climbed to another ledge and had to do it again from a different angle. These are not large pools, not very deep, and any flailing arms could be an issue. Instructions were arms in, knees in...
Followed by a slide down the rocks (oh my, there may be bruises tomorrow), zip lining across a gully - squeezing through a fissure in the rock, and then abseiling around the corner, another slide, another jump - totally exhilarating! I admit to thinking of Pooh Bear in the one where he gets stuck as some of the bigger guys squeezed down into the gaps. It didn't happen but does that make me mean?
Absolute silence in the forest apart from the sound of splashing and laughter. The pictures tell the story - and the guides were fabulous, totally professional, absolutely organised.
So, next time you are in Bled, Canyoning Bob is the buzz word, he'll raise your adrenalin levels and entertain you in the gorge for a couple of hours, and more importantly, make sure you get through in one piece.
This time we were lucky enough to have dry wet suits - we looked a treat in wetsuit socks, boots, wetsuits, helmets and abseiling 'nappies'. Starting with a 10 minute hike in the forest with a lot of up (lucky we were carrying our jackets and not wearing them, seriously strenuous walking, it would have been sauna stuff if we had layered up completely - great advise from the guide).
We were given a quick lesson in the gear - maybe too much knowledge is a dangerous thing- lowered ourselves down a rope and were told to then jump from the ledge - no ordinary ledge, a slippery one with a lip which required a decent thrust to get out far enough to land in the pool! I know from experience that you can only hesitate for three seconds before you lose your nerve - and I jumped! I think it was about 3-4 meters - then rounded a corner, through the forest and climbed to another ledge and had to do it again from a different angle. These are not large pools, not very deep, and any flailing arms could be an issue. Instructions were arms in, knees in...
Followed by a slide down the rocks (oh my, there may be bruises tomorrow), zip lining across a gully - squeezing through a fissure in the rock, and then abseiling around the corner, another slide, another jump - totally exhilarating! I admit to thinking of Pooh Bear in the one where he gets stuck as some of the bigger guys squeezed down into the gaps. It didn't happen but does that make me mean?
Absolute silence in the forest apart from the sound of splashing and laughter. The pictures tell the story - and the guides were fabulous, totally professional, absolutely organised.
So, next time you are in Bled, Canyoning Bob is the buzz word, he'll raise your adrenalin levels and entertain you in the gorge for a couple of hours, and more importantly, make sure you get through in one piece.
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