Taking Ian out of his comfort zone

Posted on June 12, 2017 by marilyn

ETTREMA THREE CAVES WALK – JUNE 2017
Sassafras > Ettrema Tops > Waterfall Cave > Discovery Cave > Bollards Cave > Sassafras
Steve told me this weekend that I wasn’t a “normal” girl, and he must be right.  No-one in their right mind would encourage a person that has never walked with them before to go with them on an adventure into the Ettrema Wilderness.  What was I thinking?  Mind you, I’d forgotten some of the “rough” bits.  I have to say though that no matter what we threw at him, Ian kept his sense of humour and could definitely hold his own.

Continue reading →

Posted in Bushwalking, BWOC | 10 Comments

SRT with Bailey

Posted on May 28, 2017 by marilyn

CASTLE HILL – 28 May 2017
If you want to canyon or do vertical caves, you have to know how to self-rescue.  I’ve been restricted from taking Bailey canyoning because up until now, all he’d done was abseil down the rope.  The amazing Beth put on a “Field Day” for MSS to show people how to self-rescue (for canyoning) and also how to go up the rope when we do a vertical cave (and going up is the only way out).  So, despite the fact that we were very tired after David’s 40th Birthday Bash in the Hunter, Bailey and I drove down to Castle Hill on Sunday afternoon to do some SRT (Single Rope Technique) skills training. Continue reading →

Posted in Abseiling, Caving, Family, MSS | 2 Comments

Chocolate Truffles – to go with the Red Wine

Posted on May 22, 2017 by marilyn

When you’re sitting around the campfire, there’s nothing better than chocolate to go with the Red Wine.  Yes, you could go out and buy a block of chocolate, but where’s the fun in that.  Plus one or two pieces is all you really need, the rest may as well be added straight to the hips.  My friend Jen (my goto person for good recipes), sent me this wonderful recipe for truffles, so I thought I’d give them a go. Continue reading →

Posted in Recipes | 6 Comments

How do you know you’re an optimist?

Posted on May 14, 2017 by marilyn

SPRING CREEK – Kings Tableland – May 13 & 14, 2017
You know you’re an optimist when someone says “nah nothing there” and still you go looking for a canyon!  Following on from the great abseil trip down Blue Drum Creek on Kings Tableland, I got to thinking “there’s got to be some other multi pitch abseils in the area” (apart from Waterfall/Camp Cave Creek).   Continue reading →

Posted in Bushwalking, BWOC, Canyoning | 4 Comments

Wild Women on Ropes

Posted on May 9, 2017 by marilyn

BLUE DRUM CREEK – Kings Tableland –  7 May, 2017
The pre-trip rider from the leader stated the trip was “quite challenging … involves a few hairy scrambles … some tricky abseils … challenging scramble to exit”, so, it was with some trepidation that I turned up at the meeting place at 8.00am.  I was so ambivalent that I even considered calling in sick, it didn’t help that I was slightly hung-over and had eaten the equivalent of a four course banquet the night before. Continue reading →

Posted in Abseiling, Canyoning, UBMBC | 6 Comments