I'm Abseiling! I AM ABSEILING!!!

(A little "What About Bob?" reference to start off a rainy Monday always helps.)

So yes, I did it, I abseiled in Africa. I walked to the side of a cliff (Ok, it was a 12 metre cliff, but still, a cliff) and proceeded to walk - and jump, just a little - down the side of a sheer rock face. The fact that the process of getting over the rock face took about 5 minutes while the entire time I was about one slip away from vomiting is completely inconsequential. I walked backwards down a cliff and you didn't. So there.

The abseiling, however, was merely a capstone to a wonderfully relaxing weekend away with my interstudy pals in the Breede River Valley. Well, once the rain and wind stopped it was relaxing anyway. Upon our arrival Friday night, we were greeted with exceptionally cold temperatures (between 5-10 degrees celsius), gale force winds and driving rain. Just the kind of weather I like when staying in an tin roof A-Frame "chalet" with a canvas "door." Needless to say, despite the heavy intake of Windhoek Lager from the bar, I didn't sleep very well Friday night.

Saturday, however, was quite the turnabout. As the sun rose over the Breede River below, I could see for miles down the river to the right from Tent #6, where Matt and I were lodged for the weekend's festivities. The "Up the Creek" camp where we were staying was beautifully positioned for such days as Saturday, when the sun illuminated the valley, as the river flowed beneath us and the gentle breezes wafted through the farmers' fields all around.

We then set off for our rafting adventure by getting loaded in the back of a large pickup truck and being driven about 7km or so back up the river to our sister camp "Round the Bend." From there, in our inflatable river rafting boats, my crewmate Jason and I set out for a leisurely afternoon's float back down the Breede, with an occasional Class 1 "rapid" along the way. We tried our best to keep people on their toes by approaching our friends at ramming speed, and entertained by singing some old favorites (Jason's selections were mostly from Bob Marley, though I chose the more sedate, dulcet tones of Otis Redding's "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" as my river song) as we made our way back to the campsite.

We burned the midnight oil on Saturday night as, fresh our rafting adventure, we all needed some time to relax and chat and have a good time together. Plus, just about every muscle in my body hurt from rowing 7km, so it was nice to just sit by the fire and enjoy the brilliant night sky. At one point, Sue, our tour guide, had the Up the Creek folks turn all the lights off so we could see the Southern stars before the moon rose. With my father as an amateur astronomer, I spent a lot of time gazing towards the heavens in my youth, but I have to tell you, I never saw anything quite like the valley sky on Saturday. The Southern Cross looked like celestial lightbulbs, obscured only sightly by the sight of the Milky Way Galaxy which stretched as thin, wispy vapour from horizon to horizon and shone brilliantly against the thousands of other visible stars in the heavens. Of course, as we all stood aghast, marvelling at the natural wonders above us, Sue says "Eh, this is nothing, you should go to Toktokkie in Namibia! They have sure do have some stars there." Guess I'll have to do that, for comparative purposes.

Then, before we left Sunday afternoon, I walked over the side of a cliff. You know, pretty normal stuff for me.

Cheers.