We conquered Mt Warning!

Sunday saw us determined to climb Mt Warning. We had been talking about it for years, but I never really had the nerve, and being overweight at the time meant it seriously had little appeal. Now I am 18kgs lighter, and the challenge was enticing. We had prepared for the fact that our youngest, who is 6, would probably need to be carried a fair way, so when we prepared lunch, we made sure the backpack counter-balanced the impending weight of her!

We set off quite early, and started our climb by 9am. About 1/2hr into it, disaster struck, with Ava (6) deciding to pick up an interesting leaf. I am sure the scream was heard for miles around, as it turned out to be a stinging nettle. I was super impressed that Leia, who is 11, had the knowledge that to remove the prickles, all you needed was sticky tape to lay over the skin, and then peel it off with the prickles in the tape. Not too super impressed about the fact that I would never have thought to bring sticky tape (mental note to self in future). She cried, she wanted to go home, but still she walked the path. I have never been prouder than in that moment. I asked if she needed to be carried for a while. The look of determination spread over her face, and she announced "no, I am doing this myself". Wow! I never expected that. It took about an hour for her to get over how sore her fingers were, and then it was back to discovering. We drank from streams, we watched the birds and looked for different kinds of fungus. we reached the hardest part of the climb, by about 12.30 and I thought "how on earth are they going to climb that?" it was a 400m climb of near vertical rock. The girls grabbed the chains and up they went, with us following behind in case of a slip! I was in awe of how they managed to find their footing, and choose their next route with such determination. By the time we made it to the top, it was cold, it was raining, and we couldnt see the amazing view because we were covered in cloud, but we were elated. Best of all, our 11 year old (who has confidence issues) was so amazed at herself, she truly thought she had conquered the world.

By the time we got to the bottom, we had jelly legs, and boy, do my legs still hurt 2 days later. We were tired, were were dirty, and we were grinning from ear to ear. Ava did the whole mountain without being carried, and she was defiant that she would do it all by herself.

I cannot express how proud I am of them, and we are already planning our next adventure. We would love you to join us!!