Taking The Fall

Newcastle Herald

Tuesday February 5, 2008

Crystal Ja

Crystal Ja

goes trekking

in a wetsuit

in NSW's Blue

Mountains .

It takes forever to hit the water.

I had obeyed instructions by throwing myself backwards into canyon waters several

metres below, with nothing to save me but a backpack that supposedly moonlights

as a floating device.

"I can't swim, I can't swim, I can't swim," were the words that should have been

racing through my mind, but instead I was bracing myself, agonisingly, for the

moment of impact.

It took forever.

Really it took about one second, but what's one second when you're throwing

yourself into an abyss of deep, dark water a good 20 minutes from the closest realm

of civilisation and the Blue Mountains hospital? And you can?t swim?

My life flashed before me.

But when it finally happened, and even though it took me a good three seconds to

battle to the surface in spite of the fl oating backpack, it wasn?t as bad as I expected.

In fact, despite the icy cold and my feeble spluttering for air, it was exhilarating,

which is probably why this half-day canyoning adventure is one of the Blue

Mountains? most popular tours.

This jump, the fi rst of many in the Empress Canyon, is probably the tamest of them

all, considering the next one comes with the instructions: "Make sure you jump at

least 1.5 metres ahead . . . or you'll land on that rock."

High-n-Wild is one of the busiest adventure companies in the area and takes an

assortment of backpackers, local adventurers and tourists through the canyon almost

every day.

Lee, who is the only fulltime adventure guide doing this sort of thing in the Blue

Mountains, reassured me that his clientele largely consisted of beginners who had

little adventuring experience.

Annoyingly, the only other people in our small group - a backpacking German

couple and student Mike from New York - had all had prior experience and laughed

at me during the morning's abseiling training.

The abseiling is essential considering the Empress Canyon's grand fi nale consists of

a 30-metre abseil down a waterfall.

Lee told us that the stunning water feature flows every day without fail despite

NSW's on-going drought.

Starting with a five-metre abseil, we learn the basic rules which include an ABCstyle

safety checklist and the low-down on why not to look up when rocks are falling

on you (because then they?ll fall on your face, not on your helmet).

The following 15-metre and 30-metre abseil?s were amazing opportunities to scope

the scenery.

While my buddies zoomed down the cliff faces, I had ample time to look at the view

- gorgeous mountain panoramas and heritage-listed landscapes - while awkwardly

dangling, breathless, at the end of a rope.

After lunch, there's a 15-minute scenic walk down to the canyon.

For some, the various jumps and swims in the canyon are part of its attraction.

After fl oundering in the water after that first jump and trying to paddle myself in

the direction of the group, Lee, embarrassingly, had to grab my collar and haul me

- dog-like - to the next rock.

He suggested I focus on the scenery.

The canyon itself is a stunning example of the Blue Mountains? natural beauty.

With rocks rising 10 metres above us, they sometimes closed out the light and

where they didn't, bush and shrubbery on top of them fi ltered the sun?s rays.

At points, the canyon was narrow enough to be able to touch either side with your

arms, in others it expanded out so far as to have its own two-metre long beach right

in the middle of the canyon.

One couple got married there.

More jumps, yabbie-spotting and even a rocky waterslide later, we came to the

final waterfall. Abseiling in the wet isn't as tricky as it sounds, although the water did

manage to reduce us all to our knees as the slippery rocks made for unsteady feet.

Cruising down the face of the waterfall with a cascade of water hitting you from

above (remember not to look up) was even more fun than it looked, and bushwalkers

on the boardwalk below us stopped to watch our progress.

The last 10 metres were a free-fall, but this time I hit the water gracefully, gently

lowering myself into the depths and letting my backpack do the work for me.

By this time I had also learned how to effectively move my arms and legs in the

water and even did something akin to swimming in the final few metres.

GETTING THERE

High-n-Wild Mountain Adventures

offers rock climbing, canyoning,

abseiling or bush walking tours

throughout the week. Call (02) 4782-

6224 or visit www.high-n-wild.com.au

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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