The Most Luxurious Birthday in the History of the Universe Ever

[Duckfish hiding under the covers]

My surprise birthday present was a night in the Blue Mountains at Lilianfels - a five-star country mansion with glorious views.

We drove up on Saturday afternoon, checked out the comfort of the king size bed, and then had the most beautiful dinner at Darleys restaurant.

On Sunday, we went on an Abseiling adventure. Unfortunately, Duckfish booked us on the intermediate course instead of the beginners’ course which meant we spent the entire day being perched on the side of a mountain with a drop to certain death on either side or scaling sheer cliff faces of up to 60 metres.

Here is Duckfish’s facebook update:

Spent the day multi-pitch abseiling down the Malatia Walls in the Blue Mountains only to find out afterwards the the day requires you to be a confident abseiler where abseiling, canyoning, rockclimbing or caving experience was a definite advantage.

Quite possibly the most insane and psychologically traumatising activity I’ve ever done. Worse still, I got points… it was officially the worst birthday present in the history of the universe ever bought for my girlfriend.

But we survived. It goes to show what you can do when you stare down fear. Although we are battered and bruised it puts the fear of other things into perspective. When you are terrified of dying and you do it anyway, it makes being scared of other things look a bit lame or inconsequential.

Scared of people not liking me?
Scared of speaking in public?
Scared of making a mistake?
Scared of making the wrong choice?

Oh please … I’ve put my life in the hands of a guide, a piece of rope and a bolt embedded in a rock and I didn’t die. All that other stuff is nothing. If the worst happens, I won’t die and it will never scare me as much as yesterday did.

Fear — get fucked — I know what you look like and even at your worst I beat you down.

And that’s a pretty good birthday present if you ask me.

Tagged as: love story