What's up with Outward Bound?

The couples’ course is a new thing for Outward Bound – I’m having a bit of trouble getting my head around it as I’d always thought of OB as being very much about self-realisation, so going with your partner must add a WHOLE new dimension!

I love this line from the website:
‘The course does not offer any counseling services and is not intended to serve couples in crisis.’

So if you’re already at each other’s throats – don’t bother dropping in. We can’t help you.

One of the things I'm enjoying about this is I get to buy huge numbers of the most un-sexy things you’ve ever seen. If the tramping boots to make my legs resemble tree trunks aren’t enough, how about woolly hats that remind me of my geography teacher on a field trip?

Don’t believe me? Well, if you can’t see what I look like on the swing bridge in my profile shot, check out this gorgeous pic from our hike up Mt Taranaki at Easter. It’s no wonder Craig can’t keep his hands off me!

Our aim is to be as fit as possible before we go – the fitter we are the more we should enjoy it. The minimum fitness requirement is to be able to do 3km in 25 minutes (I can walk that if I have to), be capable of a full day’s activity (think we’ve got that covered) and swim 20m (I’m choosing not to think about that – we’re talking about the Marlborough sounds in June. It’s going to be bloody cold. Trust me. Beyond cold).

So our exercise lives at the moment go something like this:
Monday – gym (PT for me, workout for Craig)
Tuesday – gym
Wednesday – nothing. Traditionally this is Hump Day. No, that doesn’t mean we go home and hump. It means we celebrate getting over the hump of the work week by relaxing with a few quiets.
Thursday – gym (PT for Craig, workout for me)
Friday – just me, lunchtime session with the PT
Saturday – a nice long tramp somewhere
Sunday – maybe drag ourselves down to the waterfront for a walk/jog

A couple of weeks ago we had a crack at one of those indoor climbing walls – neither of us having done it before. It was kinda fun – not something I’d fall in love with and want to do all the time, but enough fun that I’d do it occasionally. It certainly used a few muscles that hadn’t had much work for a while. And gave me the opportunity to wear more un-sexy stuff – although I think guys look worse in those harnesses than us girls do.

See how great my life is - outdoor slogging, gym torture, unflattering clothes. Oh, and I have to have short fingernails so I don't rip the ends off my fingers on a rock wall!

That's okay - I chose this!