Sorry that I haven't posted for a while (again). I had a very busy last week of work, and then left straight from work on Friday to Whanganui, where I stayed with my friend Kirsten for a wonderful whirlwind four days of fun and adventure. Not only was I too busy to think, there was also no Internet where I was staying, so... no blog posts. But now I'm home (for today, before heading back to Whanganui for Christmas day with Jonny's family tomorrow).
On Saturday morning, Kirsten and her friend Simon took me waterskiing! I have never been before, but since I love all water sports, and especially speedy ones, I was sure I would love it. I was less sure that I would be good at it, but I tend to do okay with sports that involve balance, so I was optimistic. Kirsten made me a bit nervous before we went, because she said that the last friend she brought for Simon to teach was absolutely terrible and could never get up out of the water on the skis, and that Simon has never let her hear the end of it! She said she wanted me to be good so that she could regain her good name and have a comeback when Simon brings up the person who couldn't do it. Talk about pressure!
Then we got to the lake, and another lady was trying for the first time, and she fell a lot but still said that it was tons of fun, so I decided to just have it and not worry about anything!
Look at this beautiful setting! How could you worry about anything here?
I got all decked out in my brand new wetsuit that Mom got me for Christmas - perfect timing, Mom! They made fun of me for having a full-body wetsuit when it's summer and not actually cold, but I was glad to have it, because I get cold so easily and being cold is no fun at all!
After several ungainly minutes trying to figure out how to get into the proper position in the water with two huge skis that wanted to float strapped to my feet, I was ready. Simon revved up the engine and I had no idea what to expect, but I kept my arms straight and my knees bent like he told me to, and... I shot right up out of the water and onto the skis! Yay!
Look at me! I'm waterskiing!
So, I think that I picked up waterskiing faster than any sport I've ever tried, and it was wonderful! I loved flying around the lake, feeling the waves and the water and the wind! I fell the first time he made a sharp curve to turn around, but I got right back up, and then I didn't fall again as we zipped around and around the lake!
After my turn, some people who had been waterskiing for a long time had turns, and I saw that instead of staying straight behind the boat, they zig-zagged from side to side, even kind of coming up next to the boat sometimes. I decided to try it, so on my next turn, I asked Simon how to turn, and he said that you push down with the opposite leg to the direction you want to turn. Seemed easy enough, so I tried it, and I could do it! The hardest thing is that when you get really far to one side, you end up closer to the boat, and so then the rope goes slack for a moment, and you have to work to resist the reflex to yank the handle towards you to get the tension back, because if you do, you lose your balance and fall. Oops!
Kirsten took a video of me zig-zagging, but it's too big to upload to Blogger, so I've put it on Facebook, and set it so that you can click on the link and see it even if you're not on Facebook or we're not Facebook friends. So check it out!
If you watch, you can see one time that I got to the edge and yanked the rope towards me when it went slack, and I almost fell, but managed to (not-so-gracefully) stay up. It's hard to fight reflexes!
The quality is a bit lousy on Facebook, but you get the idea, I think. It was so fun!
you are so wonderfully adventuresome.
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