Over the edge with Edge Adventure

By Maina Lukai, VTO Famil Coordinator: Our tour with Edge Adventure started with a 15 minutes drive from the Evergreen Tours office where we got picked up at 9am, then off to Mele cascades. It felt good to be somewhat a tourist, local, and behind the scene, on Friday 29th January . The abseiling was a first time experience for me. Troy Spann, who runs the Edge, had offered for me to go on one of his tours last year but because I am honestly scared of heights, I tossed excuses around to Troy to avoid going. However, this year, the winds of change blew over so I decided to fight my fears and go abseiling with Brenda, our Senior Information Officer. We arrived at the Mele Cascades with 5 other tourists, and took to the huts by Timmo, the leader of the lot,  to sign some insurance papers, followed by the fitting of our harness and helmets. We left pool 1 and walked 20 minutes uphill with Troy, which I felt was a good warm up before cooling off.

We made 2 stops along the way to catch our breaths, yes these are steep climbs, and at the 3rd stop, we were given fresh juice, which sort of calmed my nerves at a time when I had no idea what was yet to come, plus we took some group photos looking out towards Mele bay and Port Vila at a distance. We were now ready for the 15m-20m high trial slope which was all setup before we got there.

The instructor was thorough in talking us through and later showing us how to work the ropes to abseil, and how to prevent slips and bumps along the way. My first practice was nerve wrecking, but after a few more I felt quite ready to take on the 50meters down the drop challenge. We left the practice site and as we approached the waterfalls edge, my heart started pounding strongly against my chest that it felt as if it was going to pop out! I thought of turning back, but I had no choice as this was the only way to get back on our route of return.

I bit my lip for comfort but it didn’t work. Luckily, my colleague Brenda, who seemed more confident than I was, threw in some words of support to ease the anxiety and surprisingly I felt calmer. I made up my mind that I was a winner and that I was going to abseil down the waterfalls, enjoying every moment of it and as I focused around the thought, I took my first steps towards the waterfalls edge, then finally and slowly, lowered myself over the edge and down.

It felt good at every step and my fears started fade as I was mentally recording each of the moment experienced right until I landed at the bottom of the 50m waterfalls. Finally, I made it!  After this experience, I now find abseiling fun and I am no longer afraid of heights. Thanks guys!

So on behalf of the VTO, Brenda and I would like to thank Edge Adventure, for allowing us to go out and experience a wonderful product and we encourage everyone to give it a go. Visit www.edgevanuatu.com