Sometimes we tell ourselves that things are impossible even though we know they aren’t. There are those people in life who have a can do attitude and those who have a can’t do attitude or it’s all too hard outlook on things. I am a mixture of those. Sometimes I decide not to do something because it’s too hard. Other times I choose to do something just because it is too hard, just to remind myself that I can. This past weekend was one of those moments where I decided I could. Last Easter I attempted to reach one of Tasmania’s most famous lakes on foot by pack hiking into the Western Arthur Range and making my way to lake Oberon. On the first attempt I failed. The weather was nothing short of atrocious and after 6 hours of hiking in mud, 2 hours of those spent climbing one of the hardest mountain terrains I have ever encountered, and an overnight sleep where the rain just kept coming down, my party turned around and went home. I stated during that walk that I would never ever ever do it again. Well guess what I did this weekend? Yep I did it again!(ooh I sound like Brittany there ha). It was just as hard as I remembered although the weather was much kinder this time around and the hike is was a lot less muddy. The 2 hour climb still killed me but the fact we made it to our camping spot at Lake Cygnus on the range was a feat in itself. The next day I would attempt to reach Oberon. It was raining and foggy and it just got scarier and scarier! The climbing involved is insane but the feeling of elation when you reach a peak is all worth it. Guess what? I didn’t make Oberon. Only because we were on a time restriction but we did get to the halfway point and only missed is by 1.5 hrs. If we had just 3 more hours to play with we would have made it. Things that went through my head during that hike were things that I don’t usually think about myself. I’m a typical woman, never happy with my body or my fitness levels etc etc. When I was out there climbing, none of this mattered. I was strong. I was conquering mountains that not many people have the strength to climb either mentally or physically. The views of mountain caps showcasing the best of Tasmania and why we love it made me feel invincible. It didn’t matter that I was soaking wet in shorts and feeling a little bit chilly, I was smashing my demons and that fear of the physical pain to put one foot in front of the other and explore this great state that we live in. The moral to the story is that I told myself I can’t when in fact I can. I wanted to give up, I wanted to at times just sit and stop but I used the power of thought to tell myself that I can do it and it would eventually be over. It was eventually over. We walked out to the car park at about midday on Monday. Blisters, sore feet, sore back and the best thing of all, memories to last me a lifetime. Will I go back? Never, ever, ever…..until next time 🙂 Don’t be afraid to do the things you think you can’t do, get out there and give it a go. No one will think less of you if you fail, at least you tried 🙂
Now to next week. I have the following available,
Monday 11:45
Tues 2:45 or 5:15
Wed 9:15, 10:30, 11:45
Thurs 12:30
Friday 9:30, 10:45
See you soon.
Nik