Eyes Wide Open - Abseiling the Juggler Canyon.

Abseiling was something that I had never done before although my kids had both spoken about the fun that they’d had with the Girl Guides and Scouts. And seriously, if the kids could do it then it mustn’t be too hard?

By Liza

Abseiling Annie!

Early Sunday morning I set out for the Blue Mountains to join my first ever day adventure with Diamonds. I had been enjoying the weekly 2-hour hike training sessions in the local bushland & had met a lot of wonderful people so I wasn’t too worried about not knowing anyone else on the tour.

I’d diligently followed the packing checklist and checked Google Maps to see how long I’d need to travel to the meeting place in Katoomba. I took the tip about arriving early enough for a cup of coffee seriously & set off early.

Once in Katoomba, and with a fresh cup of coffee in hand I fairly quickly spotted some ladies that looked like Diamonds. They confirmed that they were, and we had a friendly chat before heading across the road to the Australian School of Mountaineering (ASM).

The ASM team were friendly and professional from the very start as they gave us a briefing on how the day would go and what equipment we’d need to take along. Some of the Diamonds had been on trips with them before and there were some smiles and laughter at the reunion. Safety was given a big priority as we each picked up a helmet and a harness that would be ours for the day. We also had big yellow backpacks provided that would handle the conditions in the canyon. That had me a little bit worried.. how rough would the conditions be? Would I get wet? I hadn’t planned to get wet. The info sheet didn’t say anything about getting wet. I really didn’t want to get wet!

With valuables and personal day packs stowed away in lockers for safekeeping, and a quick stop at the last flushing toilet we’d see until the end of the day we all headed out the back of the shop to our waiting carriage right on schedule. The transport for the day was a minibus that had seen a lot of trips before. She was a little reluctant to wake up & it looked like a clutch start could be on the cards until she coughed into life and we were on our way.

Travelling to the morning location didn’t take long, and we were treated to the beautiful sight of a cloud waterfall. There was a lot of mist and fog held high up in a valley, and it was slowly drifting over the edge of a cliff and down toward the base. We spent a few minutes just taking it in before continuing down the road.

We were soon straight into the action with another safety briefing and demonstration before the first ropes were set up over a boulder on the side of the track. One by one we walked up to the top of the rock and were told to turn around, stick our bum out, trust the harness and start walking backwards down the rock. Sounds easy, right? For those who had done it before there were shouts of glee and excitement as they quickly got into their rhythm and scaled the rock face like spiderman. For those trying it for the first time or who were a bit more hesitant, there was plenty of time to get the feel of things and lots of encouragement from the whole team. The ASM team of Lauren, Ange and Laurence were always there at the end of the rope and providing helpful guidance such as saying ‘stick your bum out’ a lot…

Once everyone had had a few goes at getting down the first rock we were off to the next level cliff. This one was a bit steeper, a bit higher & as we would find throughout the day, there was a spectacular view for those waiting their turn. The ‘stick your bum out’ technique was even more important on this cliff face (yes it really was a cliff face rather than a boulder this time) as was the art of keeping feet in line with bum… I ended up demonstrating what is called the ‘inversion’ position when my feet were left behind high on the cliff while my head was far below. I was hanging upside down on the side of a cliff high in the Blue Mountains! The ASM team were once again fabulous and full of great advice (after they had finished giggling) which amounted to something along the lines of ‘bend your knees and then straighten them out like you are doing a squat’. A perpendicular squat on the side of a cliff high in the Blue Mountains. What could possibly go wrong? Fortunately, it was exactly the right thing to do and so I stuck my bum out again and made it safely to the bottom of the cliff, feet first. 

After a couple of turns each, we set off once again, harnesses jangling and helmets still on to the next level abseil. The big one. The 30metre one. Twice as long as the last one and, we were promised, with a special treat in store. This time I was fairly comfortable with starting off the edge. I couldn’t see how high up I was, so no problem even if I were afraid of heights. I caught myself and took a few steps down quickly before inverting again, and then I found the promised treat… the cliff ran out. Seriously, there was no rock in front of me and I really really missed it! Suddenly I just wanted my feet planted on the cliff face even if they were up above and I was upside down, just to have something to touch. But I was hanging in mid-air under a cliff face, above a ledge, high in the Blue Mountains. And then I began to spin. I have heard tell that it was a beautiful and amazing sight but I can’t say that I took it all in, what with having my eyes screwed shut and all of my focus on breathing in and out, and letting out the rope as slowly as I could until I felt solid ground again. Laurence was at the base and helped me to land on the edge rather than over it, and I was very happy to see him. The next time down was much better and I can say that I even enjoyed it a little bit, but it was scary, exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time.

All morning the encouragement and excitement of the group were fabulous and every abseil was celebrated. Freshly trained and now seasoned abseilers with everyone having completed multiple abseils on each of the cliffs, we set off for lunch before the afternoon’s canyon trip.

Lunch was at another spectacular spot with fresh sandwiches enjoyed by all.

The starting point for the canyon wasn’t far away & we all piled out of the mini-bus excited (and in my case a little wary) about what was ahead. Jugglers Canyon is a beautiful place. I lost count of the number of abseils that we did along the way, but they were all different. There were times when the ropes were needed for a short but slippery slope, times when we really did need to get down a cliff face and a memorable one where I came centimetres away from face planting into a waterfall as we abseiled past a rock face with water trickling over the edge. It was a challenging trip for someone who has only been hiking with the Diamonds for a few months, but I am very glad I did so & the encouragement and helping hands from the ASM team and other Diamonds never stopped. I wasn’t the only one who had challenging moments in the trip and it was fabulous to watch the way that people reached out to support each other, always with good humour and a sense of fun. 

By the end of the day, the trek back out of the canyon was hard work but always beautiful and I felt it a privilege to have been there at that time, with such a great group of people. Thank you to Jacq for your leadership and encouragement, and to all of the Diamonds on the trip, for your humour, support and your energy.

I don’t know whether I will go abseiling again, but I suspect that I will… even if it is just to hang free under a cliff face, above a ledge, high in the Blue Mountains with my eyes wide open !!