Despite a relatively heavy night, I awoke around 5.30am to the deafening sounds of nature. I remember being stirred in the night by what sounded like a short rainstorm, but these sounds are different – chirping, whooping, clicking. A reminder of just how in amongst nature we actually are.
A light breakfast (with a brief wild sloth encounter), and the clock was ticking – ticking to a challenge I never thought I’d sign up to take part in… canyoning.
That’s right. Before lunchtime, I’d rappelled down a 170ft Waterfall…
As you can probably tell from the distress in my expression in the photo, I cried from the moment I set foot on the starting ledge, and most of the way down, and at the bottom. But, I can now officially say that is something I’ve done – and it was a big one! I may have hated every second, but I actually did it and came out the other side physically unscathed.
High adrenaline adventure behind us for the day, our next stop was a hike to a waterfall. The waterfall itself was beautiful, and the water actually surprisingly warm, but don’t underestimate how tough climbing over 500 steps is to get there!
Rightly exhausted, setting foot into our final stop of the day, Baldi Hot Springs, was extremely welcome. With numerous pools.od varying temperatures and designs scattered around beautiful leafy walkways, you’re put instantly at ease. The majority of my group stuck together, settling in to a warm pool with a swim-up bar. A little later on we would break up into smaller groups and explore more of the park, but all hanging out and recovering with fruity cocktails was – as you can imagine – lovely.
Following a post-springs group dinner at a tiki style steakhouse, I was more than ready to sleep at that point. Another action-packed day completed.
Victoria's Voyage 
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