Skydiving, hospices and this time, lamb poo.
Trip Start
Sep 10, 2008
1
9
71
Trip End
Sep 03, 2009
The Crags,
Western Cape,
South Africa
Friday, October 24, 2008
It was great seeing the mix of people at the opening, most from the local township in which the hospice is based. There was some enthusiastic Xhosa dancing and the Mayor came to officially open the building. The 10 health care workers were also presented their certificates for the level of training they'd just completed and were very happy when they discovered it would be the Mayor presenting them
Nature's Valley
. It obviously meant a lot to them.As soon as Dee saw me, I was drafted in to update the PowerPoint, which I was more than happy to oblige with. We were also asked to work on a booklet advising all the local NGO's of all the local contacts and services, so I've been editing and formatting that with another volunteer which has been enjoyable.
On the day of the opening, we couldn't stay for lunch, as I had to rush off to meet the rest of the gang for a skydive. As I was the last one there, I was on the last jump of the day. The weather started off pretty nice, with very little cloud. I nervously watched the little dots falling out of the sky at an alarming speed trying not to think about my turn too much!
Eventually my turn came and they got me into the harness. I was feeling a bit disappointed, because the clouds had really come in now. Two minutes later and the news came round that the weather wasn't good enough to jump. I was pretty gutted, especially when listening to all the stories on the way home from everyone who had jumped. The wait was worth it however, as when my turn came two days later, the weather was perfect
Suited and booted
. Not a cloud in the sky and no wind. It was warm enough just to jump in a T-shirt. Skydiving has to be one of the best things I've ever done. I was really nervous on the way up, and tried to enjoy the scenery on the 20 minute plane ride up, which is a bit tricky as your sat on the floor and there's very little room. The Plettenberg bay skydive is billed as being (one of!) the most scenic drop zones in the world, and I can definitely understand why. Words cannot describe the feeling of tumbling out of the aircraft and then free-falling for 35 seconds over a stunning landscape. Last year when I came here, there was no way you would get me anywhere near the skydive, but I'm so glad I went for it this time!
We headed to a party that night (half of us went to Nature's Valley and the other half into town). The party was a good laugh if nothing else! When we got back, we found that the other half of the group had left the front door open. The lambs had of course walked straight into the house and pooed in every single room. They'd even managed to pee on the sofa. I was very glad that my room is outside the main house! Christmas is getting closer by the day. We cleaned it up, but only after contemplating what we could do with the mess to make sure that the door would not be left open again! (I'd like to point out that Mac was the ringleader of this and is one of the business partners who run the volunteer organisation!).
I'm turning into an adrenaline junkie now as I'm contemplating abseiling, rap-diving (abseiling the other way, so you're facing the ground as you walk down the cliff) and doing the world's highest bungy this weekend. I'll keep you updated on whether I chicken out or not. Eek!
