Alphabet Dating - O for Outdoor Adventure at Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk

Hello, my name is Kristy and I'm an idiot. 

Okay I'm not a complete idiot, but on Sunday I must have left my brain somewhere because this date was a littttlleeeeee idiodic.  But let me back track a little bit and start from the beginning... shall we?

Illawarra Fly has been on our to-visit list for quite some time and after a few weeks of Jesse working interstate and us not getting to spend that much time together, we decided to head off on a random adventure on Sunday morning. 

And it was the perfect thing to tick off one of the "O's" in our Alphabet Dating Book!

We hopped in the car (actually, the truck... because Jesse really is a Southern boy at heart and prefers his truck over every other car) and drove the 1 hour and 40ish minutes from our house to Knights Hill - driving through gorgeous farmland and lush green hillsides. 

Soon we were winding our way higher and higher and higher above sea level - and that's when I probably should have realised what we were in for... but we kept on driving and I was pretty glad Jesse decided to take the truck as it meant we wouldn't have to do the whole 

I think I can, I think I can, I think, I can little engine that could routine.

Next thing we knew, we were at Illawarra Fly and buying our tickets for the walk. 

The admission price is a little hefty at $25 per adult for the walk ($75 if you want to zipline as well) but it's a tourist attraction and that's kind of to be expected.

The upside is, however, they're a part of the "Merlin Annual Pass" which is $99 per adult and gives you unlimited entry to Sydney Aquarium, Wild Life Sydney, Sydney Tour Eye, Madame Tussauds and a bunch of other attractions - which would be worthwhile if you're planning on visiting a few within the year.

We stopped by Dozer's house to see if their resident wombat, Dozer, was around - but alas, native Australian animals still manage to hide from me. I've only lived in Australia my entire life and have never seen one in the wild - even though I walk through a park just about every day that has echidnas and kangaroos and whatever else wandering around in there. Womp womp!

 

Then we were at the start of the walk - and I still had not realised just how high it was. 

As I took the first photo, someone came flying by on a zip line right in my shot and Jesse was green with envy because I'd told him when we were on our way there that there was NO WAY I was ziplining because I "am afraid of heights".

We walked around the first corner and I looked down and thought "HA! I'm not scared of heights anymore, this is nothing!"

Famous last words.... because then this happened....

We walked a little bit further, onto a platform that was suspended in mid-air with no poles or supports underneath and Jesse said "oh wow, look down" (actually... he didn't say wow but we'll just pretend that's what he said).

Ummmm... okay... maybe this is getting a little bad. 

The vertigo started and I felt like I should probably hold onto the railing to steady myself (and you know, cling onto for dear life in case the grate collapses and I risk falling to my death....)

I looked out at the view and thought oh that's nice and then walked as quickly as possible I could back to "solid ground" and away from the suspended-in-mid-air-platform where I had no chance of surviving.... well... let's be honest, my "solid ground" was just the metal sheeting over the grate but hey, that's what I told myself. 

Meanwhile, what was my husband doing? LEANING OVER THE EDGE... and taking photos with his phone over the edge... 

Here I am thinking "please God don't let my wedding rings fall off or my camera strap break because there is no way I'm ever finding anything that drops ever again" and Jesse's is just trying to get the best photo to share with his friends 😜

 

And if I wasn't freaking out enough already, we reached the tower which was ON TOP of the already high walkway and Jesse said "come on, let's go!". 

Um..... this is the moment panic set in. 

My heart rate skyrocketed (my fitbit went into cardio mode 😂) and my brain decided that it would completely stop my legs from moving as I climbed the 106 steps to the top. 

By the time I got to the top (which was SWINGING IN THE BREEZE), I was in full blown panic mode and begging Jesse to get down as soon as possible. 

But being the tragic human that I am, I had to take a photo first - and then I walked as carefully and quickly as possible down those 106 stairs because the swinging and heights was surely going to see my heart call it quits. 

Jesse actually took a video and you can hear me say "I'm surely going to have a heart attack..." 

I then walked as FAST AS I POSSIBLY COULD (but slow enough that I didn't risk killing myself by breaking the grates and falling to my death) to the next "safe" bit whilst Jesse took photos and looked around. 

Jesse convinced me to not just skip to the end and instead walk out to the last lookout point... where I found almost exactly the same view and felt like I'd risked my life for nothing... 

But there was a railing and I grabbed it to steady myself when the platform shook in the wind and IT BROKE. 

Snapped clean in half. 

Jesse says it was the funniest thing in the world because I felt it snap and I screamed "NOPE!" and hightailed my butt out of there as fast as humanly possible. 

I was SO done with the whole "facing your fears" bit at this point and clinging onto this random support pole with dear life because it looked sturdy and unsnappable and Jesse thought it was hilarious. 

Luckily I could see the end at this point and knew I only had to make it just a little bit further and then I was on solid ground. 

And do you want to know what Jesse said when I had 20 metres to go? 

"I swear I just felt the metal slip down under my foot". 

DON'T EVEN.

Kristy out. 

But tell me, what are you scared of? 

And have you ever done anything that turned out to be a really ridiculously bad idea?

Even Jesse felt sick from adrenaline by the end (despite his cool as a cucumber demeanour). 

I'm scared of heights and I am terrified of birds. Beyond terrified... I cry hysterically and hyperventilate if a bird flies at me and we actually have no idea why I'm so scared, haha.