#4 City to Surf

#4 City to Surf - Completed 8 August
OH MY GOD. This was so much fun to do!! have never seen so many happy energetic people from all walks of life and what funny costumes.

Up at 6am on a Sunday is not fun, however it turned out to be an absolutely beautiful sunny day - couldn’t ask for anything better.

Only thing that was a bit sad was the amount of people walking on behalf of sick children or people who had passed away from illness - seeing the different t-shirts/costumes was quite inspiring.

Only down side to this whole thing was trying to get out of Bondi at the other end, I joined a very long line of people waiting for a bus but it just didn't move, it was then I started to feel sick, so a nap on the grass was in order (I think my body just realised that it had walked 14kms and was having a late freak out). Felt 100% after that, so rejoined the line and headed back into the city.

The end results was 2:32:50 – This task was so much fun, to be part of the 40th year (started in 1971 the year I was born - how ironic!) I will certainly do next year and hopefully rope some others into joining me - hey I may even wear a costume myself!

Eight down, 32 to go.

#11 Spit Bridge to Manly

#11 Spit Bridge to Manly - Completed 24 July
So here we are its time for the third walk on my list and next to the City to Surf, the longest at approximately 10kms. I decided that walking from the Manly side was a better option, so Sarah and I parked at The Spit Bridge and caught the bus to Manly to meet Sophie at Manly Wharf, our starting point.

To stand at the wharf and look out towards where we were going realising just how big distance was, for me was quite daunting (especially considering how tough it was doing the blue mountains last week). Surprising this, while long, was a great walk and I just can’t put the views into words, you really have to see it for yourself. I’m beginning to think this bush walking may actually be a new hobby for me - who would have thought.

We got to the other end, while I was a little tired and looking forward to our picnic lunch, I had this sense of accomplishment - high 5’s around! Writing this I still can’t believe I did the 10kms, roll on the City to Surf! I got up on Sunday morning still amazed that something so beautiful was in my ‘backyard’ all this time, oh and one good thing, for the first time in a month NO SORE MUSCLES!!!

Seven down, 33 to go.

#29 Blue Mountains Bush Walk and Picnic

#29 Blue Mountains Bush Walk and Picnic - Completed 18 July
Sarah and I headed to Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains, we had chosen the Valley of the Falls as the walk we wanted to do.

The weather was beautiful and it was certainly a great day for a walk. The start of the walk was just stunning the view of the mountains and seeing the blue haze across the horizon is beautiful. We then hit the stairs... see when you choose a walk that involves a valley and waterfalls... just remember when you go down stairs you will probably need to come back up. OH MY GOD. I knew was unfit but really this was crazy. It has been mentioned to me that one of the walks is nicknames 1000 stairs, well I think we found it! Lucky for me Sarah was very patient in waiting for me to get my breath back!

Although it was very hard on the way up, the walk over all was quiet beautiful.

Once we got to the top, it was time for a well deserved lunch, chicken and vegetable pie, raspberry and apple loaf, chicken pâté and crackers(all homemade) and hot a cup of tea. Heaven.

*Mental note: remember to stretch after a big walk...trying to wear heels to work with painful calf muscles not good!!*

Six down, 34 to go.

#33 Build a Paper Mache of my head

#33 Build a Paper Mache of my head - Completed 16 July
Once again this was a great idea of Elise’s. We started the project on the 26th June at my place and had decided that doing my head really wasn’t a logical option so paper mache my face was the answer. Starting with covering my face with Vaseline, wrapping it in cling wrap and cutting a hole for my mouth so I could breathe, Elise and Mendo then proceeded to covering it with the flour/water/paper mixture...hairdryer to make it dry quick was certainly a laugh! how much fun was this!

A couple weeks later and its time to paint - We came up with the idea of having a Phantom of the Opera type look - spilt down the middle, I got blue and silver paint and some ‘bling’ stones and with the help of Elise and Mendo we got it finished. I had forgotten just how much fun this craft stuff was.

Five down, 35 to go.

#26 Gold Class - Sex and the City 2

#26 Gold Class - Sex and the City 2 - Completed 11 July
Met up with Jesse in the city - it’s really hard to imagine going back to normal theatres after experience gold class, god those chairs are comfortable! We had a great time and a lot of laughs (how good was that movie!). Looking forward to going again for sure!

Four down, 36 to go.

#6 Cremorne to Mosman Walk

#6 Cremorne to Mosman Walk - Completed 10 July
What a great day! Jesse, Sarah (Mendo), Sophie and I all met up at Cremorne for the start of this walk. This was Jesse’s idea as she lives in the area, all I can say is wow, to think this is 10 minutes from the city is just amazing. The houses, the view and the company, just great. We met up with Angela and baby Will for a quick break at the other end, then headed all the way back, I think it was around 4 kms in total and was really an enjoyable walk.

Three down, 37 to go.

#32 Knit a Scarf

#32 Knit a Scarf - Completed 9 July
The beautiful Elise gave me the idea of knitting a scarf, what she didn’t know was I decided to knit it for her. I didn’t realise how something like knitting a scarf could invoke such fond memories from my childhood. My Grandmother had taught me to knit when I was young and because I am left handed she had tried to teach me by me mirroring her, quite a laugh when I think back. Of course she has gone now and I will never forget that doing this task has given me back those fond memories of her and reminding me about the amazing women that she was.

As for me, refreshing my knowledge of knitting - fast forward 30 years and the internet is my training ground! I managed to teach myself to cast on, English knit stitch and cast off - who would have thought. As for making this for Elise, I knew straight away it had to be blue and have some pearls on it to finish it off. The look on Elise’s face was priceless and worth the 4 weeks of knitting every day it took.

Two down, 38 to go.

#01 Flying Trapeze

#1Trapeze - Completed 26 June
Having woken at 5am a little nervous and due to some change of plans, I found myself arriving early to the site on my own and got a glimpse of what I was installed for - OH MY GOD was I nuts? turned out that I wasn’t. Sort of.

Next to arrive was our resident photographer Sarah, who unfortunately had to pull out of the session due to injury, bringing me a T-shirt with “Kaz’s 40 things before 40” on the back very cool! Kerry and finally Janine (with a massive hangover in toe) this was going to fun!!! After a quick warm up and training session (J was already a bit green by this stage) it was time to climb up.

In a nutshell the description of what we needed to do was - climb up the ladder, turn around the ladder once past the net, keep going to the top, step on the platform, hold the bar with right hand, while the guy holds you completely, let go of left hand to hold the bar, once ready to go, jump back and swing out, bring knees up over the bar, then let go off arms and swing upside down, bring hands back up to bar, take legs off and let go. That’s it. Are you kidding me? Looking back I see this was a big ask for first timers like me. BUT who would have thought it was actually possible; to add to this by the end of the session they said we would be doing a full catch. Yeah right.

So the first guy goes up, a young guy who says he’d never done it before - completes the first stage like he was born in a circus, amazing! Eventually it was my turn. Climbing up the ladder was worse than I thought, I don’t usually have an issue with heights, this climb was way harder than I imagined, must be the fact I was holding my body weight as I climbed. By the time I got to the top I was shaking, badly. The guy waiting up there was so nice, asking about the '40 things’ (he’d seen the t-shirt) obviously trying to get me to forget about what I was about to do. After fixing all the safety gear, I was then expected to put my complete trust in him to hold me so I could hold the bar with both hands. It’s time for me to jump. I jump off and realise that my hands haven’t gripped the bar properly and it’s all feeling wrong. Then the nausea hit, oh god I want to get off..trying to yell out I want to get off above the music and the trainers yelling instructions is really hard, so I just let go. opps, they weren’t ready for me and I face planted the net, how embarrassing. Trying not to vomit at this stage I get off as fast as possible, the girl was nice in trying to give me advice, but I was done, that was terrifying and I wasn’t doing it again.

Kerry was up after me and poor thing had the same issue with her hands, she could feel herself slipping as she tried to move her legs at all and like me didn’t manage to get her legs over the bar, at least Kerry had a more graceful landing than me!

Janine, Janine, Janine - what a legend, seriously hangover she manages to climb up, swing off, legs over the bar, lets go, swings and gets her hands back and legs down - brilliant!!! Eventually it comes back to my turn, I have calmed down a bit by this stage and feel that if I don’t give it another go I’ll never really know if I could do it. So turning on the positive voice in my head I climb up the ladder and make it to the platform in one piece. I told the guy I just wanted to swing out and get a better feel for what I was doing, not to aim to bring my legs up, I got a great grip on the bar, jumped back and swung out, Man that was awesome!!! as I was swinging back I realise I was feeling a bit off again and basically wanted to stop, yet again, the landing wasn’t so good (I seem to lose all control once I let go of the bar) another face plant on the net!!, oh well at least I tried! Janine has a few more goes and actually did finish the session off with a full catch - just amazing!

Jesse arrived (with her hangover) just as we finished and joined in all the laughs. While all these people in our group were complete strangers it was fun to support each other and yell out - of course us five being the loudest - but hey we were there to have fun! All in all it turned out to be a fun morning, definitely going back when Sarah and Laura are up for their sessions - my aim next time is actually not face plant the net and land gracefully.

One down, 39 to go.