JANUARY

I’ve always wanted to go jet skiing, but never had the opportunity until we went to Saldanha Bay. I thought it could be my challenge for January and a great way to start off the New Year. I had to coax my sister to join me and after a 15 minute briefing in Afrikaans on what not to do, off we went.

I must admit that I was very confident and brave about it, until the instructor mentioned that we should be careful when we return because if we come in at too high a speed, we could crash into the “muur”. And then all of a sudden I was shit scared and wanted to turn back because I was like “We could crash into a wall? No one told me we could crash into a wall. I didn’t sign up to crash into walls”. I also seriously under-estimated the power of that little machine and that added to my fear.

But I went through with it, very trepidatiously at first. I went out to sea and about a kilometer later, I realised that I was too scared to turn, envisioning the jet ski tipping over with me on it or even worse, throwing me off. Then in a panic I slowed down to a stop and had a strange feeling…like I was sinking. Too afraid to see if I was actually sinking, I thought that maybe this is not the kind of machine that you can stop in the middle of the ocean and decided to keep on going.

I eventually managed to turn around and it was much easier than anticipated. Ten minutes later and I was practically a pro, racing on the water, hitting the odd wave, drenched with the taste of salt on my lips. I assessed my limitations, got used to the feel of jet ski and then really began enjoying myself. It was an exhilarating experience and something I will definitely do again. And the best part? I didn’t crash into any walls :)