Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Man On A Wire

When we left Portland Maine, we headed further up the coast.
The temperature started to drop and the captain made the decision to close the retractable roof over the rear pool on deck 9. There were still kids enjoying the waterslide in the open air pool area in the center of the ship. I'll admit that it looked like fun. But running up two flights of stairs in 50 degree weather when you are wearing only a swim suit and you are wet, just didn't excite me enough to try it.

The next day we found ourselves docked in St.John, New Brunswick. That's Canada for you geographically challenged folk. It was cold and there was a chance of rain. But that wasn't going to stop us from doing what we came here to do.

For Ed's big birthday, he wanted to push the limits of his comfort zone.
Here on the Bay of Fundy, there is the largest tide rise in the world. Each day, the tide rises the equivalent of a four story building and then recedes again.

Where the St.John River empties into the Bay, when the tide is out, the river runs into the bay over a series of rapids. But as the tide rises, the bay actually pushes water back up river. Up the rapids!
It's quite the site to see and we were lucky enough to be there when it happened.

But what were we doing there?

We were pushing Ed's limits of his comfort zone.
We'd heard of a zip line tour that culminates with a double race line that actually goes over the reversing falls.

We rented the helmet cams to record all the fun.

Here's the short version...










When we arrived, the water was flowing away from us under this bridge.
But by the time we left, a small island in the middle had disappeared and in this photo, the water is coming toward us. And it had not even reached high tide yet.

It did start to rain while we were up there on those poles, but we braved the weather and had a great time. 
Ed's limits had been pushed.
We headed back to the ship for a drink to calm the nerves.

Like a zip line or a roller coaster, life has a lot of ups, downs and curves. It can go pretty fast sometimes and slow at others. We choose to ride these zip lines and roller coasters to experience the excitement of it.
Life is no different. Choose to ride. Choose to live.
Each day is a monumental event. 
We don't have to wait for a big birthday.
Live for the experience and excitement.



6 comments:

MorningAJ said...

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! I'm not going up there! I couldn't even stand on the platform up the tower. I've worked on my fear of heights - but I'm a long way off doing a zip line. I'm incredibly impressed with both of you.

Unknown said...

Ed thought his biggest fear was going to be climbing up there. Turns out, stepping off and letting go requires a lot of trust and courage.
You only live once!

Jim said...

YOU DID IT!! Guys, that was quite something! I never realized it was that involved and it's only one province away from here.
That photo looking through the platform grating was more scary for me, lol!
Ed, good that you pushed this fear out of you, at least somewhat.

Craig said...

I think my vertigo kicked in watching that! Well done to both of you.
While I'd find it challenging, I think I'd do that, much more so than bungee jumping, which I could never do.

Unknown said...

I'm with you there Craig. Bungee jumping is definitely not on the docket for me. I'd sooner sky dive that bungee jump.
We had a great time and pushed ourselves to new heights.

Unknown said...

And we lived to see our good friends in Halifax!