I love giving experiences for gifts, I have written about this before here, here and here.

So, when my son turned 12 last year I gifted him a day of abseiling with a local company, Out and About Adventures. It took a while to get it all organised with so many things going on in our family but finally we booked in, to try our luck at abseiling in the Watagans National Park on a full day trip.. and what an awesome day it was!

Our day started meeting up with our guide Dean, before heading up into the National Park, till we reached the Gap Creek Falls carpark. Jumping out of the car, full of a mix of excitement and nerves we met up with our fellow abseilers, all ready to learn what our day was to bring. Dean geared us up with our harnesses, helmets and gloves and started up the track towards our first cliff. Looking up the 15metres of our first jump the nerves bubbled to the surface, especially for my son. He has never done anything like this before and his anxieties were running pretty high, for me I had abseiled many years ago when I was in the Girl Guides and was hoping that it would all come back to me real fast!

We didn’t need to worry because Dean was amazing at preparing us and make all our worries disappear real quick. After an intro on the basics on how to get down the cliff and how to belay (stop the abseiler if they are descending too fast), we went up the top and Dean helped us get clipped on. As I was getting hooked on my sons nerves got the better of him and he had a few tears. Dean was straight onto it, calming him and telling him he would help him by accompanying him down on his first jump. I was so proud of him, he pulled himself together and made the jump look like he had done it all before! Reaching the ground, his feet confidently touching down, his smile was filling his face! And to be honest I was proud of myself, all that knowledge from many years ago came flooding back to me and I handled the jump with ease.

This was just the beginning of an amazing day!

There was no stopping us now!

We quickly moved onto another jump of similar height before heading to the biggest cliff I have ever stood at the top of …well one I was about to jump off!. It was close to 50 metres high and had a few small overhangs… it was quiet terrifying! Again the nerves started to bubble up but this time we were much more confident in our abilities. On this jump I got to abseil side by side with my son, and after tackling some tricky parts, with the other abseilers cheering us on from below, we landed safely on firm ground! Of course after completing the first jump we quickly climbed back up the top to have another go!

After a morning filled with adrenaline filled abseiling we went back to the carpark for our lunch…

We needed to fuel up for what was to come, the Waterfall abseil!

Now, we have often gone to Gap Creek Falls. We have hiked to bottom of them and also to the top but never down them on the end of a rope! I admit… I was nervous. The falls are 50 metres high, it was flowing with water after some recent rain and we were told to expect it to be very slippery. So with that all in my head, I volunteered to be first. I listened carefully to Dean who explained how he was going to top belay me, to help me get down safely, before dropping over the edge. It was one of the best things I have done! Yes it was slippery, yes I was getting drenched, yes it was very high and yes the last part was a free fall… with me hoping that although Dean couldn’t see me, he was going to get me safely to the ground! It was awesome!

Once I was down, I turned to see a large group of people at the bottom of the falls who had been watching me abseil. I was pretty stoked to have made it without any incident that’s for sure! Not long after my descent my son came down. I was proudly watching from up above as he confidently went over the edge and negotiated his way down the waterfall landing safely at the bottom. Such a huge difference from how he was feeling at the beginning of the day.

Exhilarated we packed up our gear and hiked back to our cars, everyone agreeing that it had been a day to remember!

What: Abseiling with Out and About Adventures

Where: The Watagans National Park

How Much: $95 for a full day 8.30am till 3.30pm

Need to Know: This was an amazing day and you don’t need to know what you are doing because the instructor will guide you through everything!, all the equipment is supplied, you need to wear comfortable clothes, enclosed shoes with grip, lunch, sunscreen and insect repellent, the minimum age is 8 years and we had 3 children and 4 adults (including me)in our group, you don’t have to be super fit but a small level of fitness would help.. and finally just try it, you want regret it!

Please note as of writing this blog post uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus and what is allowable is changing every day. I would strongly advise you contact the company to find out if they operating the tours. OR wait till life goes back to normal and book in quick!

We had an amazing day and are excited to try out some of the other adventures that are on offer from Out and About Adventures especially the ‘Paddle and Pizza!’

Have you ever been abseiling?

or would you love to try?

Safe travels

Kerrie

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