Thursday, February 13, 2014

Twister Canyon



It comes as no surprise that many of my early childhood memories involve being in the wild. A conga line of kids way back in 1978 climbing Mt Kaputar was our parents way of educating us in spirit, and while only 4 years old I remember wanting no help up the old steel ladders.

At 7 years old the family car was packed for a journey around Australia the old fashioned way, in a 10 by 10 canvas tent. Unfortunately it ended all too soon when I broke an arm climbing somewhere I shouldn't have and spent a week in hospital. I'll never forget the freezing wind burning any exposed flesh at Mt Buffalo as we played in the snow, terrified that I was so cold.

It was all part of a bigger picture and can't help but think how lucky we were to have parents that showed us a different kind of playing field. A field that has no boundaries and becomes as beautiful and as challenging as we make it.

Dana and I joined Scott as he took Jake through his first canyon and at 5 years old, Jake is another lucky one. Planting the adventure seed in a child's mind is the single greatest gift one can give. Who knows where it will take them. Twister Canyon is an easy (grade 2) day out if you include Rocky Creek so with no fixed plan other than get through the first section we wandered off down the track as the car park started to fill.

There are numerous slides and jump ins along the way and Jake had a blast. We kept moving to stay warm only stopping for the odd photo or to soak in the sun for 5 minutes.
 



Dana and Jake doing the pin drop at the tree jump in.
 
By the time we reached Rocky Creek there was quite a crowd as expected. The resonating rumbles echoed off the walls as people jumped from various spots throughout the canyon. We had lunch and let Jake make the decision to continue or head back up the exit track, and of course he wanted to see Rocky Creek so on we went. 
 
 The hike out was led at a cracking pace by Jake and we were all stoked to see him power up the last big hill. Start them young....feed them adventure and watch them grow. Get some....




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