Buffet breakfast at the hotel once again included the standard fare of baked beans, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Andy remarked that it is a standard farmers' fare for Australia. We loaded up the coach for the short ride up the street to The cradle mountain parking lot. We had to go in one large bus, while Sophie and Scotty took our vans on the daytime ferry ride. There was simply no room on the evening ferry ride, and we barely were able to secure passenger berths for all of us. W and crag divide the group into three and we stood out on the porch of the building to get our instructions, wetsuits and helmets.
Our Canyon guides, Leon and Al, instructed us to gather up our gear and put them in the large backpacks that we were to carry into the canyon. It was a beautiful hike across about 2 miles of floating wooden walkways over scrub, past paddymelons and through completely untouched forest. We walked into and out of a rainforest, stopping at a rock formation to suit up in our gear, including wetsuit, best, jacket, neoprene socks and booties, topped off with a helmet. Another scramble downhill and we arrived at our first stop, rappelling or abseiling down a several story drop. I didn't look down and had no issue bouncing down the cliff side, landing in waist high water.
Once we were all down, Leigh Ann gave us instructions on how to float on our backs with feet up through the deeper sections of the water, until we came to an outcropping of rocks. We shimmied across them, stopped at the edge, and then Al simply pulled us off, slamming us into the water. Hello - water up my nose! The next several hours included jumping off heights up to 6 meters into small dark pools, climbing across rock faces, sliding down old trees stuck in the canyon, and freezing our tears off. It was so cold!!! W said to me at one point 'this is not my happy place.'
I was cold but all right. My biggest fear was jumping off some of the high jumps. I did every one!!
The students finished with a human pyramid at the end for our photo happy guides. Then came the surprise...we had to climb up the side of the cavern in all our gear. And we thought the tough stuff was over yesterday! Rocks, big climbs, holding onto trees, sliding along cliff faces, all of it with several pounds of water in our booties and hip flexor movement blocked by wetsuits. I stayed right behind W even as the kids slowed down :). Several times he told me, just look at the rocks so I wouldn't get stuck looking into the abyss. After about 25 minutes of climbing, we reached our bags, stopped to change back into our clothes and to make lunch. It was a light pick nick with wraps, turkey, hummus, and vegetables including beetroot. Then on with the bags again for the 2 mile hike out.
The sun was starting to peek out at this point and we hustled to make it back before getting fried. But we were able to wonder at the beautiful view of mountainsides, low brush and lots of green (plus some square wombat droppings). We got cleaned up at the visitors' center and waited for the other groups.
Once back on the bus, almost everyone was asleep in 20 minutes. It was a pretty ride across Tassie back to Devonport where the students wandered off for shopping and food. Andy, Craig, W and I ate at Molly Malone's, a counter service pub. Then we wandered the town, talking to drunk twenty somethings and being amused at the early closing hour of the shops on a Saturday evening!
We waited several hours at the ferry terminal, then boarded around 9pm. Everyone of the adults headed to bed early. It was a wild night on board, with the boat crashing loudly through waves for several hours in the middle of the night. But the late departure meant we could sleep until 7:30am!!!
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