Abseiling aka repelling (my exciting day with Bobbi-Jo)

By Janna G // 25 February 2010 // Comments: 0 // Related Categories: Traveller blog

Bobbi and I had a long day; we met up at 6am and got to Katoomba by 8:30 after a two-hour train ride from central station. The company was conveniently across the street and we met the other people enduring the trip with us. There were two other ladies from Illinois that joined Bobbi, our guide, and me.

We took a short drive to the first place, put on our harnesses and helmets and approached the first cliff. It was only about 5m tall but to go down that was scary. After the trip Bobbi and I discussed out it seems funny that we were so nervous compared to what we repelled off of in the end. Our guide was very helpful and said encouraging words to us, making us more confident. We learned to lean back the right way, “like how you would sit on a toilet with your legs up against the door” our guide told us. We did that three times which finally made us comfortable enough to move on to the next one...

The next one was 10 or 15m, which was extremely scary. I have found that Australians don’t really explain things to the detail that Americans do which was very apparent that day. I was abseiling down the cliff and then I realized I had nowhere to put my feet anymore, there was a complete drop off and I immediately panicked. Luckily, Bobbi was at the bottom and told me that I just had to sit and lower myself down. We were very lucky to have gone together because we encouraged each other, helped each other up on rocks, freaked out together, and even held hands for some of the long trek up the mountain at the end of the trip. And for the first three places we repelled, we had to walk back up the mountain, which took a lot of effort and we of course complained about it to each other. We even confessed our slight fear of heights and helped each other through each freak out. It was an athletic day which means the day after I was extremely sore but it was definitely worth it.

The scariest part is the beginning because you have to stand at the end of the cliff and look over, seeing how far it is down. Then, you have to turn your back to the drop and lean all you wait back, a very unnatural feeling to the average person. At the third cliff we tried I thought I was ready and could do anything at this point...I ended up doing it but it wasn’t as easy as I thought. My biggest piece of advice is DONT LOOK DOWN...EVER. So there was a free hang on this cliff just like the last one so I decided to look down and see how far it was...NOT A GOOD IDEA. I was VERY high up and had a lot longer to go until I would reach solid ground. Also, because I was not pushing off of anything, my body started to turn and I saw the most amazing view, which was great until I realized how high up I was. We went down this 25m cliff twice.

We then had a lovely picnic lunch and then took a long hike until we got to the river. We put on our wetsuits, helmets, and harnesses and when we were all ready we were very attractive looking. We walked and swam down the river while listening to the knowledgeable guide about the plants around us and how the river made the canyon. There were two points that had steep drops, which we jumped into and was so fun. Then we got to the waterfall. Looking over the edge was both amazing and scary. I could see the bottom and all the rocks but the water rushing down over it was something you can rarely see from that angle. The guide told us the waterfall was 90 ft, which is a little over 27 m. The waterfall was a lot different from the other ones because not only was there water rushing down on us but that also made the rock very slippery and made it hard to place our feet. It took a lot more strength and encouragement from each other, but we all made it down safely and it felt amazing.

It may sound from this that I didn’t enjoy myself but that is completely wrong. Although I was scared for most of the day, I had the best time of my life. The adrenaline that I got from standing at the edge of a cliff and repelling down was crazy. The sights were amazing and I have never seen anything like it. I have been on hikes that show you the mountains and waterfalls from a distance, but being in the middle of it all is a completely different experience. After the day was done Bobbi and I had a great sense of accomplishment and just overall awe. How many people can say they repelled down a 90 ft waterfall? It was an experience that I will never forget and I greatly advise everyone to try it!

Pictures will be loaded shortly or our adventure together! Get excited because they are pretty amazing!