Hope Within - a very special story

Cancer. The very word is pregnant with emotion, with sadness, with fear. But as these three women share their very different experiences, they reveal that out of sorrow can come hope, joy and an unshakable belief in the strength of the human spirit.Words

When Samantha Naudin was having chemotherapy this year, her son, Wilsen, knew exactly how to cheer her up. For each of the six treatments, Wilsen carefully etched a branch on his powerfully colourful healing tree to help his mum and her recovery. That tree is a testament to the difficult road to recovery. Then came the 30 doses of radiation therapy. Difficult to create another tribute for his mum’s triumphs in the face of adversity? Not for a five-year-old.To Sam’s puzzlement, Wilsen suggested a giraffe. A giraffe with no spots. But now, after her last treatment, the formerly spotless giraffe is complete, with Wilsen’s tenderly coloured circles celebrating the end of another round of treatment. It also celebrates the life and love of his mother suffering from cancer.Cancer. The word carries so much weight.

If you peer into the eyes of people who are suffering there is pain, stress and, more importantly, fear. Cancer is an unpredictable disease and affects vast swathes of people with an estimated 106,000 cases diagnosed in Australia each year.Sam’s is just one of those cases that cause trauma and torment. “That random thing where it could happen to anyone. People were thrown that here’s Sam at 43, fit and active, the world is spinning and she’s laughing all the time. That’s cruel and awful, but cancer doesn’t discriminate,” she explains. Its effects are far-reaching, not limited to those who endure the shock of diagnosis, hours of treatment, hideous side-effects and an anxious wait for the all-clear. These are the most frustrating things about cancer: worry, fear and waiting.

Then there’s hope.Sam Naudin has a reason to celebrate her last radiation therapy for aggressive grade three breast cancer. There is only a 30 per cent chance of a relapse. Good odds for the former athlete and mother of two – Wilsen and Lili, now 2. “For me, to actually lose a breast was not a big issue,” Sam says. “But to go home and tell my 21-month-old she wasn’t able to breastfeed any more was enormous.” Sam’s “whirlwind” journey started last November. After discovering a lump “that felt like a golf ball” under her arm, she thought something was wrong. “I went from running 5-10km a day to not even being able to walk up the road,” she remembers.The doctors, thinking it was benign mastitis and an infection, prescribed antibiotics for a few months.

The mammograms, blood tests and scans were unclear. “Because I was still breastfeeding, there was so much milk that they couldn’t tell what was happening. But from there, I just got really sick,” says Sam who, despite the exhaustion and pain, continued to care for her children and teach learning support at Sunshine High School.Things changed after the biopsy. “The afternoon doctor call. The four o’clock call. They leave the really good ones until last,” Sam says, unable to resist injecting some humour. “The doctor rang and said, ‘I don’t have good news’. And I said, ‘I know I’ve got cancer’. I knew something was wrong and almost wanted her to tell me that something was wrong because I was so ill.”

From then on, it was tense. “It was telling my partner of nearly 15 years that I had breast cancer. It was telling my family and friends. It was telling work colleagues. It was kind of surreal because it felt like I was sitting in the control box and I knew I’ve got to do something about this. And everyone around me just crumpled. And they’d cry. I suppose they shared that feeling of not being able to do anything.”Her diagnosis came on Valentine’s Day, an irony that isn’t wasted on Sam. “Oh great. Woo hoo. Happy Valentine’s Day.” Scheduled for a week later, surgery took out the right breast and 16 lymph nodes, two of them cancerous.

After surgery, the regular rounds of chemo and the long trail of daily radiation therapy were “tormenting”. “The first round of chemo knocked me so hard I didn’t want to go back again. And I’ve run marathons and had two difficult childbirths,” she shakes her head. “But I tell you what, if they hadn’t said this will save your life, I wouldn’t have gone back again.” Because the therapy can last hours, Sam loaded herself with books and a sketchbook, but this proved futile. To prevent problems with her fingers and toes during chemotherapy, she had to wear over-sized mittens to stop her doing anything with her hands. “The chemo is so lethal, it can lift the nails off the nailbeds,” she explains. “It was unbelievable torture, but the thought of my nails coming off was enough for me to just sit there and go, ‘You know what, someone will read to me’.”“It’s such bubbly disgusting stuff,” Sam continues, in a rush of horrific images. “When they hook you up to this bottle and you’ve come from a lifetime where you’ve trained and known everything you put in your body. Then, all of a sudden, this toxic thing gets hung above you. And the person who’s hanging it is in a suit that looks like they’re going to the moon. If anyone drops any of it, it’s like run for your life. And that is what’s going inside you. It was so hard to get my head around the fact this stuff was going to help me.”As if that wasn’t enough, Sam’s partner, Mandy, left after the third round of chemotherapy. “It was fright and flight,” Sam says, her vibrant spirit muted for a second. “Look, it still makes it really difficult that in your greatest time of need, someone who’s known you for that long steps out.”

But her mum stepped in. Helen, 70, has nothing but praise for her daughter. “I am so proud of Sam because of everything she has gone through.” Helen has moved into an extension at the house to be close to her daughter and, despite her age, isn’t slowing down. “Mum’s this exercising, aerobics, cardio-funk, dancing thing. She’s full of energy. She’s wild,” Sam laughs. Although her mum’s love of ironing is “a bit weird”, she’s been a big help.Helen, in tandem with their extended family and friends, has supported Sam through her difficult time. “These people are making a big difference to making me want to get up and not ever letting go of the belief in the fact that I would survive this,” Sam says. It is touching to see such tenacity. Sam’s drive and determination are infectious but it is her positive spirit that beams. Although the past eight months have writ enormous changes in lifestyle and taken her from an athletic buxom girl to a shadow of herself at just 50kg, she maintains her optimism.

During her therapy, she kept a journal and some words radiate from the pages: I am grateful for this experience. I must now add to this happiness. Life seems like it’s going in the direction of that shining light. Here I am again sitting in ‘you can do it’ mode. “There are times. My God, I’ve sat in the corner of my wardrobe and cried so hard and thought I’d never come out again,” she recalls. “But normality seems to keep things flowing. “The whole way through this experience, my two and five-year-old kept me grounded. Because if I think about the past and how difficult it’s been and I look at what my future is going to look like, it can be quite daunting. But then my kids will ask me ‘What’s for lunch?’ They kick you into the now.” Her journey has inspired those around her. A friend lost 20kg after taking up running; others push themselves further in their sports or make appointments for checks. Now, Sam gets to “come back as a healthier me, that’s for sure”.“For me, support, motivation and getting me back on track is about athletes,” Sam admits, allowing glimpses of her indomitable strength. “It’s the whole scope of looking after each other as well. I missed that a little bit when I was racing at a high level. I thought it was about me; I’ve got to win. I thought that was the important part. When really, the important part was being out with a whole crew of people and the people behind you making it happen.”Her inspiration has come from sources as diverse as fellow cancer sufferers Lance Armstrong and Raelene Boyle to Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive. Family as well. Sam sees it as a blessing to “hold the hands of my children through this time”.

However, she’s not looking forward to some things: “I’ve got to shave my legs again. It’s such a pain.” With a low chance of relapse, Sam does not feel like she’s in “a bad space”. Indeed, her motivation is ingrained in her favourite quote, “Keep moving forward until you can look back with joy”. She explains her philosophy in her own humble words, “You’ve got to be laughing and having fun at the same time. You can’t stay in the black hole”. And her return to full health? “Imagine what I’m going to be like when I’m firing on all cylinders.”

samantha naudin
inspired by your website and the opportunities for women to explore the world!

naudov3@bigpond.com

Machu Picchu Peru - a History Lesson

Everything about Machu Picchu makes you marvel that it ever came to exist. The lost city of the Incas is built on a saddle-shaped ridge slung between two giant peaks. Near vertical slopes drop away on either side, down to a massive bend in the Urubamba River. Machu Picchu was constructed around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire. It was abandoned less than 100 years later. It is likely that most of its inhabitants were wiped out by smallpox before the Spanish conquistadores arrived.

Machu Picchu was hidden by jungle since the 16th century until it was rediscovered in 1911.

Machu Picchu is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

As Peru’s most visited tourist attraction and major revenue generator, it is continually threatened by economic and commercial forces. In the late 1990s, the Peruvian government granted concessions to allow the construction of a cable car to the ruins and development of a luxury hotel, including a tourist complex with boutiques and restaurants. These plans were met with protests from scientists, academics and the Peruvian public, worried that the greater numbers of visitors would pose tremendous physical burdens on the ruins.
A growing number of people visit Machu Picchu (400,000 in 2003). For this reason, there were protests against a plan to build a further bridge to the site and a no-fly zone exists in the area .UNESCO is considering putting Machu Picchu on its list of endangered World Heritage Sites.
The population of Machu Picchu is believed to have numbered over a thousand and the people were so distant from other settlements that they would have produced much of their own food. This accounts for the intricately terraced fields, which have survived remarkably intact thanks to the care and skill that went into their construction. Maize and potatoes were grown, and advanced irrigation techniques were used to ensure that rainwater didn’t just run off down the hill to the Urumbamba River far below.

Most of the construction in Machu Picchu uses the classic Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. The Incas were masters of this technique, called ashlar, in which blocks of stone are cut to fit together tightly without mortar. The Incas were among the best stone masons the world has seen, and many junctions in the central city are so perfect that not even a knife fits between the stones.
Other Inca buildings have been built using mortar, but by Inca standards that was quick, shoddy construction. Peru is a highly seismic land, and mortar-free construction was more earthquake-resistant than using mortar. Inca walls show numerous subtle design details that would prevent them from collapsing in an earthquake. Doors and windows are trapezoidal and tilt inward from bottom to top, corners are usually rounded, inside corners often incline slightly into the rooms, and "L" shaped blocks are often used to tie outside corners together. Walls do not rise straight from top to bottom but are offset slightly from row to row. As a result, Machu Picchu is a city that has stood up well to earthquakes over the years.

The Incas never used the wheel in any practical manner. How they moved and placed enormous blocks of stones is a mystery, although the general belief is that they used hundreds of men to push the stones up inclined planes. A few of the stones still have knobs on them that could have been used to lever them into position. After they were placed, the Incas would have sanded the knobs away.

The space is composed of 140 constructions including temples, sanctuaries, parks and residences (houses with thatched roofs). There are more than one hundred flights of stone steps – often completely carved from a single block of granite – and a great number of water fountains, interconnected by channels and water-drainages perforated in the rock, designed for the original irrigation system. Evidence has been found to suggest that the irrigation system was used to carry water from a holy spring to each of the houses in turn.

According to archaeologists, the urban sector of Machu Picchu was divided into three great districts: the Sacred District, the Popular District, to the south, and the District of the Priests and the Nobility.

Located in the first zone are the primary archaeological treasures: the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun and the Room of the Three Windows. These were dedicated to Inti, their sun god and greatest deity. The Popular District, or Residential District, is the place where the lower class people lived. It includes storage buildings and simple houses to live in.

In the royalty area, a sector existed for the nobility: a group of houses located in rows over a slope; the residence of the Amautas (wise persons) was characterized by its reddish walls, and the zone of the Ñustas (princesses) had trapezoid-shaped rooms. The Monumental Mausoleum is a carved statue with a vaulted interior and carved drawings. It was used for rites or sacrifices.

As part of their road system, the Inca built a road to Machu Picchu, the Inca Trail.
No one knows for sure why Machu Picchu was built. Some surmise that it was a royal or religious retreat for one of the Inca rulers. Certainly its remote location and altitude of nearly 2500 metres would seem to rule out any trade or military function. Whatever its use, the obvious effort that went into its construction indicates that it was considered important and held in high regard by those who created it.

View our Peru Adventure to Machu Picchu

WOMEN TO KNOW

Kay Cottee
Solo Round the World Sailor

It was a childhood dream and a love for the sea that drove Kay Cottee towards her goal of being the first woman to sail alone, non-stop and unassisted around the world.

Twenty years ago in June 1988, Kay Cottee returned to Sydney a heroine, not just for sailors, but for women. Sailing Blackmores First Lady, a 37 foot cavalier she built herself, Kay covered over 22,000 nautical miles of the world’s oceans and around the 5 great Capes in the Southern Hemisphere. During the 189 days at sea with only a radio for company, she did not eat fresh food and woke almost every hour (or less) to check her course, to scan the horizon for ships and to ensure the sails were trimmed.
Kay survived seas of over 80 feet, winds of 100 knots, rudder and boom damage and First Lady was almost run down by a tanker!

Kay set seven world records on this incredible voyage, and has become a source of inspiration to thousands of people worldwide. When Kay Cottee's voyage ended, the accolades began. She was named the Bi-Centennial Australian of the Year in 1988, made an Officer of the Order of Australia and is the second only ever recipient of the Cutty Stark Medal - UK.
Kay’s words .. “get out there and give it a go”.

www.womensownadventure.com.au

Sydney Mother and Daughter Team climb Mt Everest

Cheryl and Nikki Bart have just become the first mother and daughter duo to climb Mount Everest.
They reached the 8850-metre summit of the world's tallest mountain just before 9am Sydney time on 24th May. The remarkable pair - dubbed "Oz Chicks With Altitude" on their website - set out for their latest adventure on April 1. They have now climbed the tallest peak in each of the seven continents. Mrs Bart and her 23-year-old daughter received oxygen as they took in the view from the top of the world.

The eastern suburbs pair had to contend with delays on their trek - aside from minus-30 degree temperatures and a lack of oxygen - including stopping for the Olympic torch relay. Their communications gear was temporarily confiscated amid the tight security surrounding the relay.

Mrs Bart, a mother of two, lawyer and board director, says on the website that she enjoys heliskiing, snowboarding and rock climbing. Nikki is a sixth-year University of NSW medical student and co-chairwoman of the Medical Students' Aid Project, which donates medical equipment and pharmaceuticals to Third World hospitals. She spends her spare time volunteering on charitable projects, skiing, snowboarding and participating in outdoor sporting competitions.

The Barts have already climbed Australia's Mount Kosciuszko (at 2228 metres), Antarctica's Vinson Massif (4892 metres), South America's Aconcagua (6962 metres), Africa's Kilimanjaro (5895 metres), North America's McKinley-Denali (6194 metres) and Europe's Mount Elbrus (5642 metres).

"Sometimes we are mother and daughter and other times we are like sisters."

www.womensownadventure.com.au

Share Bushwalks in your area

This is the place to post a great bushwalk in your area. This can then be shared with others.

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Share Your Travel Stories

We would love to hear about your own travel adventures. Share your stories with us here; the good ones, the bad ones and the funny ones.

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Favourite Quotes

Please add your favourite quote!

'It is confidence in our bodies, minds and spirits that allows us to keep looking for new adventures, new directions to grow in, and new lessons to learn - which is what life is all about.'
- Oprah Winfrey (1954 - ), Oprah Magazine, May 2004

'Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing at all' - helen keller

'Not all those who wander are lost' - j.r.r.tolkein

“I came to your shore as a stranger, I lived in your house as
a guest, I leave the door as a friend”
- Rabindranath Tagore

"Nothing in life is accidental. How you deal with the tragedies & opportunities offered, is the measure of your success"
- Joy Joyce

"She soars with eagles and navigates by rainbows"- Lesley Hazleton

"We make a living by what we get...We make a life by what we give" - Winston Churchill

www.womensownadventure.com.au

Adventure Travel to Chile and Peru

In Chile you will discover the beautiful arts and crafts centre and enjoy a culinary tour.
In Peru, you will be awestruck by Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. These are truely the most inspiring and most beautiful sights. You will learn of the history and archeology of the ancient cultures, discover the techniques and designs of the ceramics and weaving. One of the highlights of this trip is a 2 day Misminay Indian Community trek through spectacular scenery surrounded by mountains to arrive at 3,700m altitude to the village. Another highlight of this adventure is the 4 days spent in the Amazon jungle.

To find out more, click here

www.womensownadventure.com.au

Adventure tourism grows in popularity

(Thursday, 07 February 2008) - Written by MEGAN K. SCOTT, Associated Press Writer - Last Updated ()

Forget the tan, the Mickey Mouse photos and the cliche souvenirs.

These days, travelers want to experience something more than the gated resort and the cruise ship buffet. They want to go on a walking tour, climb a mountain and kayak down a river — adventures that can make a vacation more meaningful.
"In travel, people are increasingly seeking the authentic unique experiences that stretch the imagination and create potent memories that last a lifetime," says Chris Doyle, vice president of the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA). According to the organization, adventure travel is the fastest growing segment of the leisure travel industry.

Of course, adventure is in the eye of the traveler, and ranges from a walking tour to whitewater rafting. But because of that, it remains relatively unaffected by the weak dollar and economic downturn, says David Larkin, managing director of AdventureUs.com, a social networking and directory for adventure travelers.

Here, according to the experts, are some of the latest trends in adventure travel.

GIRLFRIEND GETAWAYS: More women are leaving the men at home. More than 50 percent of adventure travelers are women and most fall between ages 41 and 60, according to a 2006 survey by the ATTA. "We used to think of active holidays for 20-somethings," says Evelyn Hannon, creator of journeywoman.com, an online travel resource for women. "Now it's not unheard of for 50- and 60-year-olds to be going kayaking, mountain climbing, surfing."

VOLUNTEER VACATIONS: Combining volunteerism with vacation continues to be a growing trend; Global Volunteers saw a 30 percent increase in participation last year, according to co-founder Michele Gran. Baby boomers still rule, she says, but the fastest growing demographic in the last 18 months has been people under age 20, more than likely baby boomers who bring their children with them.

EXPEDITIONARY TRAVEL: More people are helping researchers through the Earthwatch Institute, an international volunteer organization supporting science. Expeditions include surveying coral reefs on a remote Bahamian island or feeding and caring for cheetahs in Namibia. Most of the trips are two weeks, and no special training is required. (Exceptions may be trips that require scuba-diving certification or a high fitness level). Other examples include
conservation-minded tours to watch giant sea turtles lay their eggs in coastal areas of the southeastern U.S., Mexico and Costa Rica.

CHARITY TRAVEL: Think an extreme version of a walkathon. Venture Expeditions, a Christian-based organization, sponsors trips to raise awareness and funds for various organizations, such as biking through Thailand to raise money for an orphanage. Travelers pay for the trip and then make a minimum donation to the charity.

ACTION-PACKED VACATIONS: Some people call action-packed vacations "The Bucket List" for the movie starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, two terminally ill patients who want to complete a list of things to do before they kick the bucket. Ultimate 5 Lifetime Adventures packs five of what it calls the World's greatest adventures into one week: a military-developed Ropes Challenge Course, skydiving, Indy car racing, rappelling and piloting a primary combat trainer aircraft.

FAMILY ADVENTURE VACATIONS: Some families (including multigenerational) are forgoing theme parks and all inclusive
resorts for "more genuine nature-based, cultural, and education and learning excursions," says Doyle. He attributes this in part to baby boomers who have the means to travel "coupled with a strong interest in bonding more deeply with families." GordonsGuide.com, a Web site on adventure and active travel, says the top vacation requests are all family friendly — dude and guest ranches, houseboat rentals, whitewater rafting and horse pack trips and trail rides.

SOFT ADVENTURE VACATIONS: An increasing number of people are choosing a vacation that centers around a theme, such as a culinary tour in Asia or wine vacation in Israel. Yoga has also seeped into the mix. Best of Both Women's Adventures has yoga on all of its trips and a specific yoga and surf vacation in Puerto Rico. (Surfing is one of the top activities that women want to do, says Dez Bartelt, co-founder of Best of Both Women's Adventures.) Other combinations include yoga and snowboarding or yoga and wine tasting.

EXPEDITION CRUISING: Look for more people to take expedition cruises to Antarctica, the Galapagos and Alaska, says Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor-in-chief of CruiseCritic.com, three places that are hard to see without sailing there. The cruises, while less glitzy than big ship cruise lines, include lectures and presentations about the place. "On an expedition cruise, everything revolves really around what you see off the ship," says Brown. "On the big ship cruises, everything revolves around what happens on board and the ports are sort of an addendum."

ROOTS VACATIONS: With an increasing number of people swabbing their cheek to find their roots, some are taking it a step further and traveling to the places where their ancestors lived. Discover Natural Ancestry (amazingdna.com) not only provides DNA analysis and genealogy services, it puts people in touch with tour operators who plan the trip for them. "If they are breathing, then they have a genetic story hidden within them and we help them to discover and explore the unknown secrets about their heritage," says Yvonne Walker, marketing director for Discover Natural Ancestry.

AFRICAN TRAVEL: While the Kenya Tourist Board says the sporadic and isolated violence has calmed and tourists were never in danger (the situation was internal and occurred in places where tourists generally don't go), there has been a downturn in tourism in Kenya and some spillover to other countries in East Africa, says Wil Smith, director of Deeper Africa, a tour operator with trips to Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

"I believe the bounce back in the neighboring countries is going to be swift," he says. "I think it's probably going to take
best scenario, six months for Kenya to recover."

When the region recovers, look for more people to go gorilla tracking in Uganda and Rwanda; visit Ethiopia, an emerging
destination, and climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, before the snow on its peak, which has been gradually receding, disappears.

www.womensownadventure.com.au

Join us for a social bushwalk

For those of you who are based in Sydney, you may be interested in joining us on a free bushwalk on Sunday 17th February.

The walk will be in Kurring-gai National Park, and I will email details of where to meet by the end of this week. We are planning to start at 9am and finish at approximately 3pm.

If you are interested in joining us, please email me at marika@womensownadventure.com.au if you havn't already, so that I know who to expect.

Chile and Peru Adventure trip to be launched

If you have been wanting to go to South America, this is THE trip to Peru.
You will spend 2 days in Chile first visiting the beautiful arts and crafts center in Pueblito de Los Dominicos where over 120 craftspeople work at their art in public view. You will learn the secrets and history of classic Chilean cuisine in beautiful surroundings during the culinary tour, visit the local farmers markets and prepare outstanding Chilean meals under the direction of our Chef.

In Peru, you will be awestruck by Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. These are truely the most inspiring and most beautiful sights that I have even seen. You will learn of the history and archeology of the ancient cultures, explore the local ceramic studio to discover the techniques and designs from ancient Peruvian cultures.

One of the highlights of this trip is a 2 day Misminay Indian Community trek through spectacular scenery surrounded by mountains to arrive at 3,700m altitude to the village. The local people will treat you to a welcome tea and show you traditional weaving techniques. Here, the children of the village are friendly and curious. Lunch will be at the community.

Another highlight of this adventure is the 4 days spent in the Amazon jungle. Here you will be transported up the river to the native community of Infierno. You will be treated to an amazing array of birds, mammals, reptiles, giant river otters, butterflies and amphibians. Enjoy canopy tower walks, wildlife viewing through the jungle and a night walk. Once again you will contribute to the community and interact with the local children while being treated to special dance and musical performances.

This will be an amazing trip, one that will leave a deep impression.

We have only 16 places for this trip. Please let me know if you are interested.

The trip is scheduled for late September to early October for 15 days. I will post prices once the airfares are finalised in the next couple of days.

Interview on ABC radio

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Belinda Sanders during her morning program on ABC radio. As the first Australian specialist adventure travel company for women only, I was interviewed regarding the travel trends of women and how we fill a gap in the market for Australian women, particularly in the 40 to 60 age bracket.

Who is the adventure seeking woman?

According to the world travel and tourism council "The adventure seeking woman" has purchasing power. She crosses all ages, family configurations and fitness levels. She's carving time in her schedule and finding wiggle room in her budget for new adventures that involve everything from rock climbing to Tuscan cooking.

According to research conducted for the Ministry of Tourism in New Zealand - women constitute the dominant market for the packaged, overnight adventure tourism industry, typically comprising more than 60% of all participants.

Our survey has revealed that women are searching for cultural interaction, wildlife encounters with short treks as well as being pampered. These are the most sought after travel experiences.

There seem to be many women in society now who are either single or who have partners with different interests. As women, we have focused on our families for the past 20 years, have worked hard and are now ready to meet our own personal challenges and experience as much as we can. We are fit and healthy and want to explore more.

Many of our friends may not be in a position to travel with us, or have different interests as well, yet we don’t want to travel on our own. We are searching for something different, but in good company.

The important aspect is to provide women with a product that will enable them to overcome a range of social, time and societal barriers which may otherwise restrict them from participating in Adventure travel.

www.womensownadventure.com.au

Paragliding, first cross country flight

I could hear the high pitched sound of my vario going beep.beep.beep as I looked around me and found myself alone at 1,000 metres above launch. The radio came to life with “Marika, remember that height is your friend”.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, the other pilots were all landing. From my birds eye view, I could see one had landed in a tree (resulting in a broken arm), another had just landed between the trees on a narrow dirt track and the third was losing height very rapidly. None of my friends had time to land in the bomb-out field.

With only a few strings and a piece of material over my head I managed to take control of the fear that was gripping me. This was my first solo inland flight, and I was not supposed to be so high or so alone. I fought against the deep seated desire to land and be close to the ground, instead, as I felt the next thermal and heard the high pitched sound of my vario again, I leaned far over to the right, pulled down on my right brake and steadied my wing slightly with the left brake. Circling in the thermal and gaining more height I started to feel in control and my mind was totally focused on the task at hand…fly the paraglider.

The mountain that I launched from was now far below me as I straightened out my glider and headed to the next ridge. Beyond these mountains lay beautiful green paddocks. I kept my eye on a distant country road and one of the paddocks along side it. Approaching from high, the farmhouse looked very small and I remembered how important it was to keep a watch for the powerlines running from the farmhouse to the road. These powerlines are almost impossible to see, so I knew to keep away from the most logical path. I wanted to land as close to the road as possible, while avoiding the barbed wire fence and the powerlines. Circling above my anticipated landing spot to gauge the wind speed and direction, I put into action all that I had learned and positioned myself into wind then flared my wing for a perfect landing.

After my radio call back to the retrieve vehicle, informing them of my position from the GPS, I was absolutely elated and brimming with a grin so wide that I could hardly contain myself. I had mastered my first cross country flight, totally on my own, making all of my own decisions, and yes, in a paraglider, height is definitely your friend.

www.womensownadventure.com.au

Australian women are travelling

Women – young, old, single, married, widowed, mothers, active working women, adventurous grandmothers - Australian women are travelling overseas in ever-increasing numbers.

Here are some interesting observations:
Of those who currently take nature, adventure or cultural trips, 75% are women.
The average adventure traveller is not a 28-year old male, but a 47-year-old female.
70% of all travel decisions are made by women,
Regardless of:
who they travel with,
who pays for the trip,
or where they go,
A woman is the decision maker.

www.womensownadventure.com.au

Making Connections

When on holiday, leave those business cards behind. Instead carry colourful postcards from home and give your new acquaintances a glimpse of where you live. Relevant contact info can be printed on the reverse.

Carry ball-point pens for the kiddies you meet. In some Third World destinations young irresistible children will beg you for candy. Why help to rot their teeth? Instead, before you leave home, check your local phone book for those companies that personalize ball-point pens. They generally have no use for their misprinted stock and will be happy to give you some free of charge. Bright texta colours and blank exercise books are also well received by the children.

www.womensownadventure.com.au

Backpacks - a female invention?

The backpack is probably the most practical piece of luggage ever invented by man. Or more likely woman, who probably devised the first one to lug babies around in. Consider the advantages of a backpack:
· It leaves your hands free so you can fumble around for your tickets and passport more easily.
· It usually has neat little pockets that are ideal for hiding dirty socks.
· It can often pass the carry-on-luggage test at airports.
· And you don't have to put it down on wet dirty floors whenever (and however) nature calls
(Source: Paul Waters, Travel Editor, Montreal Gazette, May 1998)

www.womensownadventure.com.au