Have you been on any adventures?

I’ve thought about this quite lot as I can’t quite decide in my own mind whether an adventure is ‘planned’ or whether it just happens…. so I looked it up in the dictionary…... noun 1. an exciting or very unusual experience. 2. participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises: the spirit of adventure. 3. a bold, usually risky undertaking; uncertainoutcome hazardous action of I don’t think I am temperamentally a # 3 or even a #2 - but, that said, I think I have had my share of #1!

When Dad & I packed up our first VW in 1970 and headed north to drive the old unpaved Alaska Highway that was something of an adventure - it was certainly heading out into the unknown for us.Miles and miles of the highway were rarely travelled and we had to be quite self sufficient. It took a lot of planning, something which Dad is best known for. The whole trip was an adventure and we camped in some remote places with narey another person about.

Getting stuck up one of the old gold creeks was for me the most unnerving experience - there was no help out there, but dad figured it out. Also quite scarey was meeting my first black bear in the forest close to one of our camp spots… I think it was as surprised as we were, and shambled off.. we left in somewhat more of a hurry in the other direction. Different altogether - but maybe considered bold, or foolhardy, exciting, risky or hazardous…..at the time it sounded like fun.

One of our first trips to Turkey we decided that it looked like fun to tandem Paraglide off the top of Baba Dag - above Olu Deniz. The trip to the top of the mountain was terrifying, quite honestly I would rather have jumped off the top of the, mountain than driven back down the road again. It was barely a rutted track up the side of the mountain and our minibus packed with people and all the gear required for the jump swayed perilously over deathly drops.

My only consolatary thought was that the driver probably wanted to get home that evening…… In the end we did have to drive back down as it was too windy to jump that day … and we had to do it all again the next day- it was truly terrifying. When it came to the actual jump, Dad went first - and my thought as he ran down the slope towards the edge of the cliff for take off was ‘ Oh hell he’s got the Visa card’ - I did honestly wonder if I would ever see him again.

I did of course …down on the beach where we landed and it was a most amazing experience. I have to say that I would NOT do it again…….