I never thought I was particularly adventurous, but looking back on my 58 cruises, a pattern has started to emerge. Honey has now become Ms Thrillseeker…and it’s all because of cruising.
Let me explain. I’ve never been a fan of anything that goes fast, spins, or involves diving into deep water. I don’t like heights and I wouldn’t bungee jump or skydive even if I was offered a million dollars. I’m afraid of car parks (a very strange phobia) and startle very easily.
But when it comes to cruising, I am emboldened. It’s as if a switch flicks in my brain and I think, “Oh well, this opportunity will never come again. When will I ever be here again?”
I somehow find the courage and book that shore excursion or experience that I’d normally, on land, run in the opposite direction from as fast as my pudgy legs could muster.
Here are three of the most adventurous shore excursions I’ve been so fortunate to experience.
Scaling Fire and Ice
It’s Antarctica — the destination itself is in a category of its own — but hiking an active volcano was definitely something I would never, ever contemplate. Ever.
While I am no geologist or volcanologist (or whatever the correct term is), I remember thinking to myself as the Zodiac zoomed towards Deception Island, “Honey safe, snow, lava no flow. Honey safe. Cold. Nothing like Vesuvius.” Then I leapt ashore, almost forgetting to grab two hiking poles.
The expedition team had already marked the path, so all I had to do was follow it up, up, up. The day was incredibly windy, the terrain difficult and I am not a hiker. As my fellow shipmates strode ahead, I decided to take it slowly. I think a crew member said it was about a one- to two-hour hike. I think it took me three.
However, I digress. I walked methodically upward, keeping my eye on the team member in her teal parka standing at the top of the volcano’s mouth, cursing my complete lack of sense of direction (I followed the trail but somehow did more zigging than zagging) and finally reached the peak.
My first thought was, “If my mother could see me here, she’d be reciting the Litany of the Saints and calling on Mother Mary to protect me.”
My next thought was, “One footstep in the wrong direction and I will probably die.”
My third thought was, “This poor crew member has been waiting for me, I’m the last one, and is probably freezing.”
But my fourth thought was, “WOW! I actually did this!”
The view has been seared into my memory forever. As I made my way back down, only slipping once, I thought to myself, “If it wasn’t for cruising, I would never have hiked up an active volcano in Antarctica.”
The Day I Voluntarily Swam Toward the Barb
As an Aussie, the absolute trauma we are still recovering from is losing our beloved Steve Irwin to a stingray.
So naturally, I picked the “Swimming with Stingrays” shore excursion during a cruise in French Polynesia.
Again, the thought process was, “Honey safe. Many people do this every day. These stingrays are probably tame. Honey won’t be killed by a barb.”
As the little boat I was on slowed down in the crystal-clear lagoon, I was literally the first one to jump out. I had no fear at all of these alien-looking creatures. I should have been, but I wasn’t (and the handsome tour guide’s reassuring smile certainly helped).
As I stood waist-deep in the most luxurious water I’ve ever seen in my life, giddy with joy while slimy sea animals brushed their wings against me, I thought, “I would never have swum with stingrays if it wasn’t for cruising.”
The Reef That Was Worth the Rescue
I love the water. I’m also a little afraid of it. I love snorkelling — but I’m also a little afraid of it.
Two things freak me out: breathing through a snorkel (I can’t quite figure it out and have swallowed quite a bit of seawater in my pursuits) and being in very deep water.
So, when I was onboard a fabulous cruise in Fiji and offered an adventurous snorkelling tour, my thought process was once again, “Honey safe. I don’t have to know exactly how to use a snorkel and mask properly. Professional Fijian snorkellers!” — and I dove right into the water.
Two things I hadn’t considered were the strength of the current and the fact that I’d eaten three fried bananas five minutes earlier.
Very soon after diving in, I experienced the most exquisite snorkelling of my life. The colours, the variety, the sheer abundance — it was extraordinary.
And as I got separated from the group by the strong current, had to be rescued, got seasick from snorkelling and threw up the aforementioned fried bananas, I thought to myself, “I would never have experienced snorkelling in the most stunning location if it wasn’t for cruising.”
If you think cruising is only about lounging by the pool with a cocktail in hand, remember you can just as easily find yourself looking into the mouth of an active volcano, swimming with venomous sea animals or being swept along a technicolour reef in the middle of the Pacific.
Cruising has given me the guts to say YES to experiences I would normally talk myself out of. And if someone like me can become Ms Thrillseeker at Sea, then trust me, adventure might just be waiting for you the next time you cross the gangway.
