Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Twenty1 #29in29 Where The Wild Things Are...Wild Play

A few posts back I posted a picture from Wild Play in Nanaimo and their aerial obstacle course.  I wanted to expand on this and show you just how brave the Scooterpie Clan is.  I went last because I was the official photographer on the trip and as I quite often do I have to keep pushing everyone forward.  This is great fun and it is very challenging and you have to have relatively good upper body strength because you are using your arms to pull yourself through on a lot of these exercises.  You have to stay calm and use your balance and quite a bit of critical thinking when trying to traverse the obstacles.  We were quite high up at one point and another participant from another group was emotionally and physically done, so they had to go back the way they came, which translates to going over the obstacles that fried your nerves in order to get down.  There is no magic crane and no superman to swoop down and return you to terra firma. You are safely harnessed with a carabiner system where you are actually hooked up twice.  It was an aweful lot of fun, it taught me about inner strength and determination, sometimes just using sheer will to get you through a difficult spot.  There was a lot of pep talking going on for Moto Diva Jr and her friend.  I had to do some tough love and say "JUST DO IT!"  It is very unnatural for a mother to tell her kid to step off a platform whilst dangling from a harness and rope.  I couldn't tell Jr that I was just as scared as she was!

Motorcycle man was my hero!  He just did his thing and kept everyone moving forward. He was usually in front of the girls so that he could get on the landing platform before they came zipping over and making sure they had a good landing without backsliding.

Most of the obstacles will swing so you have to keep your balance. Believe it or not this was one of the easier ones and wasn't too high up off the ground. 
We are working our way to the black course which is the 'difficult' portion of the course.  It is definitely more challenging and is not for the those who are afraid of heights. 

This is looking down from the highest part of the course I think we are minimum 30 feet in the air.  I have to say I was seriously wondering what the heck I was doing up here. I felt exhilarated when I had completed it and was also completely exhausted.  You are swinging through the trees for approximate 2 to 3 hours.  I have done this activity twice. I think I am good for the future now.  I might just like to do the ziplining activities.  Check out the link to Wild Play

11 comments:

Trobairitz said...

That looks scary, cool and fun all at the same time.

Kudos to you all for completing the course. It would be fun to give it a whirl.

Unknown said...

Dar:

as Trobairitz said, It looks both scary and fun. I am not sure I could drag my weight up there,

bob
Riding the Wet Coast

Dar said...

Trobairitz - it was fun and scary all at the same time! OMG I was putting a lot of faith in a climbing harness and little bits of rope.

Bob - I was having trouble hauling my carcass up the tree ladders and at the end I was so tired I was having trouble holding onto things.

I was so sore the next day it hurt to breathe.

Trobairitz said...

Were you chanting to yourself the next day....

"Feel the burn".....

or singing "Hurt so Good"

ToadMama said...

That looks like fun. And it looks exhausting. You should be proud of yourselves for making it through.

kiwi_deb said...

Good for you Dar - I too have done it twice, the second time I did it I didnt have a moto man to catch me and on one of the longest zip lines I missed and ended up back in the middle. Then you have to haul your carcass back "up" the slope hand over hand! But what a blast - maybe moto mamas should do this???

VStar Lady said...

Tarzanish - well done Scooterpie in the sky!

Bluekat said...

That looks wicked fun! I love being up high, so this looks just right up my alley!

Dar said...

Trobairitz - I was chanting "Hurry someone bring me some tylenol with a back rub chaser!"

ToadMama - It was exhausting, but it was quite a sense of accomplishment. I certainly wasn't ready for the physical part of it the first time around. I am kind of couch potato-ey. Lol the following summer it was better because I had been working out.

Kiwi_Deb - Honey Bunny I hate to tell you this, but I don't think I can haul my carcass up there again. I have done it twice and I think I am more content on the ground looking up now. How's about bungy jumping???????

VStar Lady- AWWW EEEE AWWWWW!!!!!! it's a bird, it's a plane - No It's Scooterpie in the sky!!!!

Bluekat - it was wicked fun, but I definitely needed to go back to the campsite and sit in the jacuzzi and have a little martini muscle relaxant.

Fuzzy said...

wow, that looks so fun!

Dar said...

Fuzzy it is a blast! I love the zipline parts the best.