With an hour to escape and one of our party still on a tube in London somewhere, I had doubts over our ability to crack the clues and escape.
The clues. Confusing in themselves. Pieces of paper detailing strange notes, wooden cylinders with Xs and Os on them and numerous posters on the wall were all meant to help us crack the code to get into the vault, get the money and escape.
It started slowly - we found some keys, worked out how to put the wooden pieces into the rack, then worked out the codes on the ipad, transferred these to the map on the wall and finally managed to match the symbols to the poster. Bingo - the shutter opened!
But then - the laser beams! Quite possibly the trickiest part, we finally managed to cross these and work out how to use the clock in the other room. Then it was onto the vault. As luck would have it, having recently visited Krakow, I was able to work out the map and we finally got the second key needed to open the safes. With a couple of minutes to go we then had the task of working out which money was not counterfeit and which was worth more.
As the buzzer went off we escaped!
With just under half a million pounds in our suitcase we'd done well, even with the deduction for the clue we had to use to help us.
Great fun and definitely worth doing!
Wednesday 20 December 2017
Sunday 15 October 2017
40 before 40 - Update. Where am I at?
Below is my progress so far. 2 years and 17 to go!
Slightly concerned I won't get there but then there are some small challenges that are easy to tick off and these are the ones I shall focus on next year. Larger challenges - The Great Wall and Vegas may need to be changed if, due to time and funds, I cannot complete these. I do have some ideas on standby. A few changes are also noted below...
Before I am 40 I want to...
And one additional one that is not a 'fun' one, but a necessity!
41. To not smoke another cigarette from summer 2014 onwards - especially when out drinking or stressed at work. 5 years smoke-free is certainly achievable if I stick at it from now :)
Slightly concerned I won't get there but then there are some small challenges that are easy to tick off and these are the ones I shall focus on next year. Larger challenges - The Great Wall and Vegas may need to be changed if, due to time and funds, I cannot complete these. I do have some ideas on standby. A few changes are also noted below...
Before I am 40 I want to...
- Go in a hot air balloon
Get two more tattoos-After getting my second tattoo (first additional one), I actually think I am happy with the two that I have. Both are discrete, will not annoy me when older, are personal and have meaning to me, plus part of me is now wondering if I got a third whether I would be getting one just for the sake of it! So I think I'll stick with two!Go husky sleddingSnowboard down a blue run without falling!Trymicrodermabrasion - to see if it is as good as others say!-
Go down the slide at the Orbit in the Olympic Park. Originally I wanted to go busking and make enough money for a meal - but actually how much would this stress me out, rather than add value to my life? Wild camp and watch the sunrise- Visit Jerusalem
- Go rally driving
- Do the three peaks challenge
Eat at a Michelin starred restaurant. Whilst afternoon tea at the Ritz was lush, I have never eaten a full meal - 3 courses or more! - at a restaurant with even 1 Michelin star.Zip wire in SnowdoniaSee the Northern LightsStand under a waterfallFeed a penguin - Or monkey or any other cute animal for that matter!Do a triathlonGive blood - something I always mean to do but have never got round to it.- Walk the West Higland Way, or a similar long distance footpath.
Camp in a tipiGo up the shard.- Sit in a hot tub, looking out at snowy mountains whilst drinking cocktails!
- Go to Vegas
Create a piece of artwork that I am proud to have on display in my houseDo an escape room game. Psychics can wait. I've had enough bad news over the past two years without hearing a so-called psychic babble on about things which may or may not come true!Go zorbingWrite a blog- Do a skydive
Fly first/business class - even better if I get an upgrade!- Visit Venice
Buy a DSLR camera and learn how to use it- Learn to knit - and actually produce something useful!
- Go punting
Drive a jet skiCycle in the Velodrome at the Olympic ParkSee baby turtles on a golden sand beachSee a film at the rooftop cinema- Visit the Great Wall of China
Visit Auschwitz-
Run another marathon. Gatecrashing an extravagant wedding - great fun and great idea but so few and far between!
Have visited 40 countries by the time I’m 40 - currently on 36, 37, 38, 39 I believe, so achievable in 5 years!
And one additional one that is not a 'fun' one, but a necessity!
41. To not smoke another cigarette from summer 2014 onwards - especially when out drinking or stressed at work. 5 years smoke-free is certainly achievable if I stick at it from now :)
I tri-ed!
I had initially signed up for a women's only tri, way back in July, and due to numerous reasons never made it down to Dorney Lake that Sunday morning. Then, whilst on a short break to Belfast, I got an email that I had won an entry to the Wonurn Tri two weeks later. I could enter any distance and only had to pay for parking - result! So, I used my sensible brain and picked a Supersprint - 400m swim, 10K cycle and 2.5K run, all distances I could complete with ease individually.
So, with no training under my belt and with my 1990s heavy mountain bike stowed in the boot of my only slightly bigger car, I drove the 90mins to Woburn Abbey on a very cold Spetember morning.
Wedged into my ever so slightly too small wetsuit, I entered the lake. 16.1 degrees felt like ice! The hooter went and we were off. With reeds trying to grab my ankles and pull me under and the water having a fair amount of sediment circulating, I decided that breast stroke was the way forward. 2 strokes forward and 1 back seemed to be the order of the day. The wind had picked up and the lake became choppy. My predicted 8 minute swim turned into 11..... And then the exit ramp was upon me. I dragged my weary body out of the water, pulled off the top half of my wetsuit and speed walked to transition, conscious of the fact that I needed to prepare my legs for cycling.
Transition - I was not the slowest by far and within 2 minutes I was on my bike and heading out of Woburn. It felt like the longest 10K cycle of my life. All way going well until a hill. A big hill. At 7K I could have done without it and, like the other 4 cyclists just ahead of me, I cheated and walked the steep 200m uphill, mounted my bike at the top and peddled like mad back to transition.
T2 (see, I know the lingo if nothing else) was speedy. Dismount, jog to my racking position, bike up, helmet off, turn number belt round and grab a drink. Out to the run.
2.5K - On it's own should take me 15mins max! This took a little longer with my jelly legs and the 300m hill up the slippery grass at the end.
But I finished! I was not last and despite being 20mins slower than I had hoped I was not too disappointed, given my lack of training, the cold day, my heavy bike and complete unpreparedness!
Woudl I do another? Maybe, but flat, it'd have to be flat!
So, with no training under my belt and with my 1990s heavy mountain bike stowed in the boot of my only slightly bigger car, I drove the 90mins to Woburn Abbey on a very cold Spetember morning.
Wedged into my ever so slightly too small wetsuit, I entered the lake. 16.1 degrees felt like ice! The hooter went and we were off. With reeds trying to grab my ankles and pull me under and the water having a fair amount of sediment circulating, I decided that breast stroke was the way forward. 2 strokes forward and 1 back seemed to be the order of the day. The wind had picked up and the lake became choppy. My predicted 8 minute swim turned into 11..... And then the exit ramp was upon me. I dragged my weary body out of the water, pulled off the top half of my wetsuit and speed walked to transition, conscious of the fact that I needed to prepare my legs for cycling.
Transition - I was not the slowest by far and within 2 minutes I was on my bike and heading out of Woburn. It felt like the longest 10K cycle of my life. All way going well until a hill. A big hill. At 7K I could have done without it and, like the other 4 cyclists just ahead of me, I cheated and walked the steep 200m uphill, mounted my bike at the top and peddled like mad back to transition.
T2 (see, I know the lingo if nothing else) was speedy. Dismount, jog to my racking position, bike up, helmet off, turn number belt round and grab a drink. Out to the run.
2.5K - On it's own should take me 15mins max! This took a little longer with my jelly legs and the 300m hill up the slippery grass at the end.
But I finished! I was not last and despite being 20mins slower than I had hoped I was not too disappointed, given my lack of training, the cold day, my heavy bike and complete unpreparedness!
Woudl I do another? Maybe, but flat, it'd have to be flat!
Saturday 22 April 2017
A hamster ball, you say?
And so, in the deepest, darkest depths of Surrey (Whyteleafe to be exact), I found myself strapped into what can only be described as a giant hamster ball opposite my friend of 25years, Becky. The restraining pole was removed and we were off, me going backwards and her forwards, down a 140m slope for all of about 40 seconds. Utterly terrifying and fun at the same time, especially when the zorb collided with the side barriers and we were thrown around a little more than we had anticipated!
At the bottom the net caught us, then released us so that we were hanging by our harnesses upside down! This was soon rectified by the staff who righted our zorb and helped us out.
Did we want to go again? You bet!
This time it was the hydrozorb. No harnesses but a couple of buckets of water to help us slide around in the ball. This one seemed more gentle, until the final few metres when we lost our grips and tumbled over each other. At least we were still laughing at the end!
Great fun and I would definitely go again!
At the bottom the net caught us, then released us so that we were hanging by our harnesses upside down! This was soon rectified by the staff who righted our zorb and helped us out.
Did we want to go again? You bet!
This time it was the hydrozorb. No harnesses but a couple of buckets of water to help us slide around in the ball. This one seemed more gentle, until the final few metres when we lost our grips and tumbled over each other. At least we were still laughing at the end!
Great fun and I would definitely go again!
Sunday 4 December 2016
40 seconds of fun!
I was very fortunate to be asked to abseil down the ArcelorMittal Orbit at the Olympic Park by a good friend of mine. Having always been envious of those people in my life who go along with the 'it's not what you know, it's who you know' as the key to doing things in life, this time it proved to be me with the right contact to do something I loved! The abseil was amazing and although it provided me with the most unbelievable rush, meaning I was still shaking as I reached the bottom after 4 minutes of rope pulling action, I still wanted to experience something I had never done before (as I had abseiled many times before) - go down the slide!
And so it was that Ali, Linda and I booked tickets many months before, for a Sunday in December. We certainly took a gamble with the weather, booking for December, but the thing that wasn't a gamble was booking it with two of my more-recently acquired friends. The three of us met and subsequently became great friends through a physically and mentally tough Kilimanjaro mountain-climbing expedition in the summer of 2012. Since then we have holidayed, partied and shared some awesome times together. It is encouraging to know that we share a similar love of fun and adventure, and also I know that if there is a crazy activity to try, then these girlies would be up for it!
Unfortunately the slide experience was not to be for Linda, who abandoned Ali and I for a weekend in Somerset! But, undeterred by losing one of the slide gang, we went ahead without her! We were in luck with the weather - a cold frosty morning was soon followed by a clear and sunny sky come 12pm and views across London and from the top of the Orbit were amazing.
After a quick and easy check in, we went up in the lift to 115m and the viewing platform. Some photos and mirror posing first, then a 10min walk down in the metal stairwell that runs round the structure. With bags and coats deposited in the lockers we once again boarded the lift to the slide entrance this time. We are given a skull cap and elbow pads (attractive) and joined the queue.
With a few nerves kicking in, the staff were great. I was sat down on my mat, given instructions about keeping elbows in and head up and pushed into the metal tube of the slide. The ride down was quick and painless! With transparent sections which allowed you a little view of the sky and many more closed in sections which were dark with a few lights, I reached the bottom in approx 40 secs, with Ali following soon behind!
An amazing experience. I just cannot wait to go again (and take Linda with me next time!)
And so it was that Ali, Linda and I booked tickets many months before, for a Sunday in December. We certainly took a gamble with the weather, booking for December, but the thing that wasn't a gamble was booking it with two of my more-recently acquired friends. The three of us met and subsequently became great friends through a physically and mentally tough Kilimanjaro mountain-climbing expedition in the summer of 2012. Since then we have holidayed, partied and shared some awesome times together. It is encouraging to know that we share a similar love of fun and adventure, and also I know that if there is a crazy activity to try, then these girlies would be up for it!
Unfortunately the slide experience was not to be for Linda, who abandoned Ali and I for a weekend in Somerset! But, undeterred by losing one of the slide gang, we went ahead without her! We were in luck with the weather - a cold frosty morning was soon followed by a clear and sunny sky come 12pm and views across London and from the top of the Orbit were amazing.
After a quick and easy check in, we went up in the lift to 115m and the viewing platform. Some photos and mirror posing first, then a 10min walk down in the metal stairwell that runs round the structure. With bags and coats deposited in the lockers we once again boarded the lift to the slide entrance this time. We are given a skull cap and elbow pads (attractive) and joined the queue.
With a few nerves kicking in, the staff were great. I was sat down on my mat, given instructions about keeping elbows in and head up and pushed into the metal tube of the slide. The ride down was quick and painless! With transparent sections which allowed you a little view of the sky and many more closed in sections which were dark with a few lights, I reached the bottom in approx 40 secs, with Ali following soon behind!
An amazing experience. I just cannot wait to go again (and take Linda with me next time!)
Wednesday 31 August 2016
Ziplining in Snowdonia
Now I know that not all phrases or superstitions or the like will always ring true but in this case it certainly was 3rd time lucky!
Having booked the ziplining experience for February, it got called off due to the weather, and then again in May the Welsh weather got the better of us. So after 3 weekends wasted in Wales I was so glad that this time there was sunshine and no wind!
Going back 3 weeks previously I had also ziplined in Costa Rica, however this hadn't gone as smoothly as I had imagined it would. The normal ziplining technique of sitting in your harness and admiring the view as you went down was fine, but when it came to the forward-facing 'Superman' technique for the final 1km ride I freaked. I mean freaked! My nerves overcame me, I had visions of breaking the wire, breaking bones, falling out of the harness.... plus being the kind person that I am, I had let others go before me as I was feeling guilty about holding them up! So I was left, almost stranded, up a 20m tower in Costa Rica with the staff there getting annoyed at me slowing down the flow of people and I was getting more and more upset because I didn't know what to do - would I find my way back if I walked to the centre? Would the others even still be there waiting for me? As it was, on the start of my walk back I was met by one of the employees at the centre who talked me round and offered to ride the zipline with me. His calm nature and patience helped me to change my mind and after a wait of 30mins or so I did it!
The above ziplining issue was playing in my head. Over, and over, and over again this past weekend before the big day. Had I managed to ride the Welsh zipline in February or May things in Costa Rica may well have been different! But this was not the case. Come the Friday night and I got very little sleep. The Saturday morning was no better as I almost passed out in the kitchen. My head was reliving the Costa Rica moments again. But this time I realised this was my weekend, this was my ziplining goal and I had to do it!
So off to Zip World we went. Suits on, Go-Pro hired and instructions given. It was the little zipper first....
Then a 10min truck drive up the quarry. The Big Zipper was in sight. Convinced that the Welsh took safety much more seriously than the Costa Ricans I had complete trust in the people and the equipment and knew as soon as I stood on the platform that I would do it. Speed calculating app on, phone tucked away, all strapped in and 3,2,1...
http://www.ustargroup.com/
Over 100mph and a mile later I touched down at the other side. Laughing uncontrollably I was heard to repeat 'amazing' and 'best thing I have ever done' over and over.
Now if we could just rewind the clock and take me back to Costa Rica, I think I would like to try that one again.....
Having booked the ziplining experience for February, it got called off due to the weather, and then again in May the Welsh weather got the better of us. So after 3 weekends wasted in Wales I was so glad that this time there was sunshine and no wind!
Going back 3 weeks previously I had also ziplined in Costa Rica, however this hadn't gone as smoothly as I had imagined it would. The normal ziplining technique of sitting in your harness and admiring the view as you went down was fine, but when it came to the forward-facing 'Superman' technique for the final 1km ride I freaked. I mean freaked! My nerves overcame me, I had visions of breaking the wire, breaking bones, falling out of the harness.... plus being the kind person that I am, I had let others go before me as I was feeling guilty about holding them up! So I was left, almost stranded, up a 20m tower in Costa Rica with the staff there getting annoyed at me slowing down the flow of people and I was getting more and more upset because I didn't know what to do - would I find my way back if I walked to the centre? Would the others even still be there waiting for me? As it was, on the start of my walk back I was met by one of the employees at the centre who talked me round and offered to ride the zipline with me. His calm nature and patience helped me to change my mind and after a wait of 30mins or so I did it!
The above ziplining issue was playing in my head. Over, and over, and over again this past weekend before the big day. Had I managed to ride the Welsh zipline in February or May things in Costa Rica may well have been different! But this was not the case. Come the Friday night and I got very little sleep. The Saturday morning was no better as I almost passed out in the kitchen. My head was reliving the Costa Rica moments again. But this time I realised this was my weekend, this was my ziplining goal and I had to do it!
So off to Zip World we went. Suits on, Go-Pro hired and instructions given. It was the little zipper first....
Then a 10min truck drive up the quarry. The Big Zipper was in sight. Convinced that the Welsh took safety much more seriously than the Costa Ricans I had complete trust in the people and the equipment and knew as soon as I stood on the platform that I would do it. Speed calculating app on, phone tucked away, all strapped in and 3,2,1...
http://www.ustargroup.com/
Over 100mph and a mile later I touched down at the other side. Laughing uncontrollably I was heard to repeat 'amazing' and 'best thing I have ever done' over and over.
Now if we could just rewind the clock and take me back to Costa Rica, I think I would like to try that one again.....
Feed those monkeys!
Morocco. May 2016. Monkeys galore!
It was during our trip to Morocco that we stayed at Riad Cascades d'Ouzoud, near to the Ouzoud Cascades, not too far from Marrakech in Morocco. As with our Oman road trip, Ali and I had pinpointed those places that were a little more out of the way yet equally as fascinating to visit as the major cities that most tourists visited this amazing country for. The Ouzoud Cascades were at the top of our list having seen the amazing pictures on Trip Advisor and the like!
Our morning walk in the heat took us along a well-made path, past the top of the waterfalls, down to the base. We were certainly not expecting to see monkeys of any sort, though in hindsight the pictures on the walls at the riad should have given us a clue!
There were many, many Barbary apes along the path. Some were just minding their own business, others were getting up to mischief with their siblings and another group were intent on causing havoc with passing tourists!
It was one such havoc causing ape that I ended up feeding. With a handful of nuts from the man who we met on the path I had an ape eating out of my hand, climbing up on my shoulders and also stealing my sunglasses!
Cute, with powerful hands - a little claw like - they dug into my head with a vice-like grip! Thought of rabies or losing my Ray Bans to this little monkey aside, he took the nuts from my hands and made himself at home whilst feeding!
It was during our trip to Morocco that we stayed at Riad Cascades d'Ouzoud, near to the Ouzoud Cascades, not too far from Marrakech in Morocco. As with our Oman road trip, Ali and I had pinpointed those places that were a little more out of the way yet equally as fascinating to visit as the major cities that most tourists visited this amazing country for. The Ouzoud Cascades were at the top of our list having seen the amazing pictures on Trip Advisor and the like!
Our morning walk in the heat took us along a well-made path, past the top of the waterfalls, down to the base. We were certainly not expecting to see monkeys of any sort, though in hindsight the pictures on the walls at the riad should have given us a clue!
There were many, many Barbary apes along the path. Some were just minding their own business, others were getting up to mischief with their siblings and another group were intent on causing havoc with passing tourists!
It was one such havoc causing ape that I ended up feeding. With a handful of nuts from the man who we met on the path I had an ape eating out of my hand, climbing up on my shoulders and also stealing my sunglasses!
Cute, with powerful hands - a little claw like - they dug into my head with a vice-like grip! Thought of rabies or losing my Ray Bans to this little monkey aside, he took the nuts from my hands and made himself at home whilst feeding!
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