The Spirit of Adventure

Alice laughed : 'There's no use trying', she said. ' One can't believe in impossible things'. 'I daresay you haven't had much  practice', said the Queen. ' When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I believed as many six impossible things before breakfast.'

Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

A few weeks ago mighty companion Elloa treated me to a belated birthday surprise. On the morning I packed the  following bits and pieces into a rucksack...

• A years supply of healthy snacks ( for a constant supply of carbohydrates)
• Compact digital camera ( for sudden bursts of creativity) 
• 1 x  empty leather wallet ( for that richer look )
• A change of underwear ( To be used in emergencies only)
• Mobile phone ( to call a friend )
• Household rubber gloves ( for protection against germs)
• Writing pad and pens ( for moments of pure blog-spiration)

As we journeyed through gorgeous Sussex countryside to the surprise location,  my ego started to conjure up weird and wonderful activities for the day ahead ...

Sheep riding ( which is similar to bike riding only more woolly)

A cupcake tea party with Al Pacino 

Bungee jumping from a local council estate high rise block of flats ( This is a bit like attempting to commit suicide except you don't die ( unless the cord snaps and you fall on your head)

Fire Walking

Pole dancing ( a wonderful opportunity to wear gold hot pants and dance like kylie Minogue in the pop video spinning around)

Basket weaving for health and wellbeing

Bullfighting  in a local farmers field somewhere on the South Downs

Actually, it was none of the above. However, I will add the above to my bucket list of things to do before I die (again).

Eventually after a tranquil journey through the English countryside we pulled into Tulleys farm- DESTINATION UNKNOWN! I was then asked  to sign a waiver form saying that if I was to die whilst on the surprise birthday treat then it would be my fault! This made me feel slightly uneasy afterall I didn't have the foggiest as to what I might actually be doing next.

Moments later I was escorted down a muddy woodland trail and into an open field. I had started to think that maybe Ell was planning on having me bumped off by a country bumpkin with a shot gun. Thankfully, this wasn't the case and instead  it turned out that my belated birthday suprise was ...

QUAD BIKING!

We started off just practicing going forward and backwards. (See right for a pic of Ell practicing her quad biking skills.) 10 mins later we were deep in shite on a woodland trail. It was really exciting - like being a kid all over again-getting proper mucked up. At one point I felt so happy I started to cry. ( Here is a brilliant photo of Ell and me on the Quad bikes...)

Just when I thought it was all over I was escorted another activity. Now if someone had said at the beginning of the day that I would be MEDIEVAL AXE THROWING  I would have thought they were barking mad, but that is exactly what we did and for some strange reason it came to me quite naturally- like I had experienced it before in a past life. (I found it really useful visualising my ex-girlfriend's face on the coloured target as this enabled me to hit the bullseye with every throw ( just kidding - I don't have those kind of  thoughts anymore because I am a spiritually enlightened axe throwing being - seriously.) Supposedly, the hardest axe of all to throw is the tomahawk used by the red indians with lightning precision. Well, I can proudly say that I hit the bullseye. (Unfortunately, I spent the rest of the allocated time attempting  to remove the tomahawk from the instructors forehead.)

The final activity was ARCHERY. Robin Hood eat your heart out. I once tried archery as a kid and I was absolutely rubbish at it! However, today was a new day and the chance to change my mind. I decided to hold my little boys hand and gave him full permission to miss the target and guess what ... I hit it - again and again and again.  Ell also discovered that she is maid marian incarnated and we have since decided to set up a small business robbing the rich to pay the poor.

A smashing day was had by all and we left Tulleys Farm exhausted but fullfilled.  This was a day for venturing out of comfort zones and for walking through fear. Together, we embarked on an exciting adventure that embodied the Spirit of Jim, and helped reveal that to live an extra-ordinary life one must first find the courage to think outside the box.

' Whenever you face your fear, you overcome an inner obstacle that has previously held you back. And in surmounting that obstacle, the landscape changes both inside and out and you move into new territory. ' - Annie Lionnet

In Nige and Ells world ... ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE :-)