The second day in Falls Creek Falls I decided to go hike around the area and check out what was in store for me. Mostly I just wanted to go on the hiking trains so I did. One of the first ones I went on had a rickety bridge that you had to cross to get to the other side. You then went down the trail and could literally swim in the area below and off to the right. If you went left however you had to get creative. So big bags, anything that could get caught, etc was out of the question for this maneuver. You had to go under fallen tree trunks, you could cross the river but it was almost knee deep so you had to be ok with shoes being wet. Then you had to be careful of the algae on the rocks that could cause you to slip. Once you got to other side successfully though you were right on eh edge of the waterfall. You could see straight down at a 90 degree angle and it was beautiful. There were no hand rails or safety so it was definitely at your own risk sort of thing.

Once I had gotten my pictures I headed back out and up to go to another trail. I went down and ended up in this adventure zone. I got intrigued and looked at what was in store in this area. They quickly told me that it was an obstacle course that was in the trees. They all kinds of levels of activity and it was $50 for two and a half hours of full fun and zip lining. Quickly I payed and went on the adventure. They told you about all the safety and what the harness’s did. They gave you step by step instructions of how to stop, slow down, or let go. They made sure everyone ran the kids course just to make sure they knew what they were doing and then you could go ahead and start leveling up. You first did the easy one, then medium, hard, expert, then extreme. I had so much fun up there and I really enjoyed the activity it made me do. It gave me all kinds of awesome challenges and I honestly loved the level of difficulty that it gave. I had no idea that zip lining and going through obstacle courses in the air was so much fun. It really inspired me. 

At the end you had the option of doing the extreme course which was really short or you could jump off the platform and go to the ground. I chose to skip the extreme and jump off. IT was really scary but once you jumped the line catches and set you down slowly. Really it was a master of fear. 

Once I got done with in air obstacle course I made a brave decision to take on a location that the guys told me about. This "trail head" was literally almost impossible without a line to attach to the cord that was provided. Without a cord you were scaling the side of a rock cliff. Somehow, I ended up being able to masterfully make my way down and to the river. It was magnificent. I decided (and this was a mistake) to take off my shoes and socks. I grabbed my amazing camera that I have put through high water and hell on Earth and FORGET to put the strap on. I then take a cautious step onto a rock and go to lift my foot to put in the area next to it and what happens? I slip. Guess what happens when I slip. My hand lets go of my camera and it goes for a beeline into the water and slam dunks down. 

I have never moved so fast in my life. I thought my heart had stopped beating. two Seconds the camera is in the water, five seconds bubbles come to the surface, six seconds the camera is out of the water and is being disassembled so quickly and with frantic me tearing it apart in realization at how stupid this whole thing was. I mean who just takes off their shoes and socks, doesn’t secure their camera and just DROPS IT in the river. Me. That’s who does stuff like that. 

That day I stripped my shirt in public without a single **** in the world and I used it to wipe down my camera inside and out. I swear the next few days were panic attacks that were waiting to happen. I ended up giving an emergency call to my dad who gave me insight on how to let the lenses dry out and the base of the camera. The rest I had let sit by the fire for hours so that the heat would make the water evaporate. Lucky for me I Managed to have it be saved and the lense and camera are still working to this day. 

I have put my camera and my medium sized lense though all kinds of things but I have never ever dropped my camera like that. I learned my lesson for sure that day. Always have your camera strap around your neck, you don’t know when you instincts to save yourself will make you drop something you treasure.