When you put your mind to it

Day 3 : Approaching the open sea heading for OBS Lumut

Looking back at this picture, it brought back a lot of memories from my adventurous hey days. It was a kayak expedition that spans 3 days 2 night covering a total length of 120 km. Who would ever imagine yours truly could cover 120 km in 3 days. I was never such a sports person in school days nor was I into sports. I played a smatter of netball, badminton and ping pong but that was it. I was more of the club gal. English Club, Drama and Music Club, Geography Club, Kumpulan Pengakap ke-27, Girls' Brigade, to name a few. I was never athletic period.

Then, something took over and I was hungry for adventures. I would be going camping almost every month. Almost twice a month! That was me. My adrenaline was pumping and I became fascinated with mother nature and thirsting to taste her nature. To embrace her charm and beauty. She is almost magical in many ways.

When we were told that we were to organize the expedition, I was excited and anxious at the same time for I knew nothing about kayaking. Not to mention, the expedition would mean serious logistic planning including charting out the course of the expedition. The expedition was also a collaboration with the Outward Bound School of Lumut (OBS). Their involvement ease our mind a little on logistics matter but then there was the physical side I was not prepared to face.

Over the next few months, as the plan begin taking place, the physical training also begin shaping us all up in preparation for our expedition. Over the next few months we began our physical training to build stamina and Saturday mornings were spent at Titiwangsa lake to train on the technical aspect of kayaking including what to do when the kayak turns over. Self recovery of kayak, manouvering our kayak, do's and dont's of kayaking, proper technique of kayaking, rafting, sign language, etc. I learned a lot from my office friend who used to be a national champ in kayaking including slalom race (downstream extreme kayak). There was no turning back. I was hooked on kayaking and everything I need to know about kayak.

Would I be able to achieve the same feat today? I doubt so but then again, with the right group, a great partner, who knows. I might still be able to reach the shores of OBS Lumut. After all, nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. This time, I think I'll just take an easy cruise down a river with fh20 or check out the irrawaddy dolphin sightings.