Ezine

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Hello - This is your intrepid Extreme Adventurer reporting from Queensland, Australia.

I had heard about this "Extreme Day Out" they have in these parts and I have come to try it.

So, here I am in Cairns a town situated way up on the Northeast coast of Queensland - the long stretch of coast that houses the Great Barrier Reef.

I join a tour group and we head north and cross the Kuranda range, then continue inland to Mareeba. We observe the dramatic change in scenery as the dense rainforest transforms into dry eucalyptus forest.

The first part of this "Day Out" is about to start, the hot air ballooon take off site is located outside Mareeba, a small agricultural town surrounded by tropical orchards and tobacco plantations. This was my first time in a hot air ballooon and I was surprised by the sheer quietness as we drifted away over the tablelands, the only sound being the occasional blast of flame from the gas tank. There were breathtaking views of the mountain ranges, cultivated fields and wilderness areas. After a gentle landing, and to celebrate our sunrise ballooning adventure, we stop for a Champagne breakfast on the return journey to Cairns. It's now 9.30am and I thought that was a fairly exciting start to the day - wrong! - that was just a gentle trip before breakfast!

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I continued with the exhilaration of the day by joining a tandem skydive tour. We head to the airport after detailed instructions and off we go in this tiny little plane. Now I had this parachute harness on and my instructor was going through the routine as if it was an everyday occurrence and I suppose it was for him, but I was first timing again and I could not believe that I would be throwing myself out of that door in a few minutes and just falling out of the sky....Oh my god! I'd like to go home now please!? Well I didn't actually say that out loud but I think my instructor new what I was thinking, it was probably something to do with the fact that my hands, legs and well everything really, was shaking.

My instructor beckoned me to the door - my time had come, I expected my life to flash before me because I was sure I was going to die! All bad thoughts then evaporated as I experienced the adrenalin rush as we took that leap out of the small plane. I vaguely remember making a shreiking noise of pure exhilaration or was it a scream? We seemed to be falling for a long time and the earth below looked very close, I asked my instructor who was underneath me, if we could pull the damned ripcord now? I couldn't see his face but I know he just smiled and he said "not long now". We kept on falling for another hour, well actually it was under a minute but just seemed like that! Finally we opened our chutes and what a wonderful feeling as we gently glide to earth.

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Back to Cairns by 1pm, had lunch and by 2pm we are departing on the third leg of the "Day Out" - The Barron River Rafting trip.

We arrive at the Barron Gorge National Park to commence whitewater rafting. After safety talks and instructions we float serenely down the river. I thought that I had used up all my adrenaline for the day - Wrong again!

Suddenly the raft dipped, increased speed, swung to and fro and we were drenched, the whitewater was doing it's best to remove us from the raft and the adrenaline was flowing again. That was the first rapid which turned out to be quite mediochre compared with the next one.

As before when we hit the next rapid the raft suddenly bucked and weaved and this rapid being quite steep, the raft accelerated to an incredible speed and was seemingly out of control, but we were managing to miss the jagged rocks on either side. This time there was the sound of rushing water adding to the excitement and the sheer force of the water coming over us was surely going to deposit us in the river. But it didn't and we were safely through and drifting gently to the next rapid. I was by now really enjoying this thrilling adventure.

There were several more rapids and we were afloat for about two hours. These were grade three rapids and apparently there are grade five rapids in other parts of the world. I must make a point of finding them later in my world tour.

We were then ready for a break and a leisurely drive back to Cairns. On the return journey we passed beautiful scenery, waterfalls and experienced a unique view of the rainforest.

So, that's it then! What a day! Definitely the most exciting day of my life - so far!

Now I'm off on a "Great Escape"
Trekking through rainforest wilderness, sleeping under the stars, canoeing on the Mulgrave River and snorkelling off of a charming gaff-rigged schooner on the Great Barrier Reef.

Tell you about it in a few days - watch your mailbox!
Bye for now from your *Extreme Adventurer.

* The Extreme Adventurer is a fictional character and his fictional story is only loosely based on a very real adventure that you can experience for yourself. Click below for details.

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