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Our
plane from London landed in Joburg just before 9 am and Adam and I were
exhausted having had no sleep on the 11 hour flight overnight.
Unusually for him, Dan had slept most of the way and he seemed more
awake than I’ve ever seen him at this time in the morning. Eugene,
Andre and a new “blonde” Heinrich met us and we chatted for a few
minutes while they finished off their breakfast. By this time the
excitement about getting on the water was kicking in, but the adrenaline
can’t have been flowing for long because I fell asleep in the car on the
way to the river. We arrived at the house we would be staying in for
the next week and a half, and after unpacking and taking a look around,
Eugene told us to be ready to ski in an hour; normally we would have
been happy to chill out for the rest of the day, but the sun was shining
and the water was glass so there were no complaints!
Having never been to South Africa before, Dan was the first to get his
feet wet. Our first set was a warm-up on the shortline - it felt so
good to be on the water again. My second pass started with my 3rd
ever back toe-up, so I guess I could have gone home after that! I also
made a toe-back which was a sign that this was going to be a good trip.
After lunch we went jumping. I went straight on the boom for my first
two, which were the biggest I’ve ever jumped. I took 3 more on a
wrapped up shortline and then 3 on the 5-foot line, all of which went
well. My inverting had hit an all-time low in the summer because I kept
tripping and pulling in on my arms, but it looked like the break had
helped me forget bad habits. My last set of the day was back slalom.
I was a bit unsteady but after a few reminders from Eugene my crossings
were already becoming clearer and faster. After dinner we went
straight to bed so we could be ready for a full day of training the next
day.
After a few barks from Heinrich’s annoyingly cute dog Zoe, we were
eventually woken at 8 and after a coffee we made our way down to the
dock. Andre got me working on my basic turns shortline, and even I was
surprised – they weren’t bad at all. I’d only made a few front to backs
before, so getting backwards was an achievement already! At lunch I
rediscovered the best chutney ever made (we were introduced to it at
World’s last April) and I added it to everything – yep, it was
definitely good to be back.
After lunch we had about an hour and a half to let our food go down
before jumping again. I finished off the day with more back wakes,
which were still getting better.
I
was on hot chocolate duty tonight, (and remained on it for the rest of
the trip) and after some TV, we sat down to dinner. Nonnie proved
herself to be an awesome cook so we always looked forward to her meals
(and they always went well with chutney!) I went to bed feeling pretty
pumped about the progress I had already made.
Adam
and Dan were woken first, giving Heiny and me a chance to lie in for a
bit before our turn to jump. This was where I hit the glass ceiling and
my set didn’t go so well. I tripped and- guess what, pulled on my arms-
so I couldn’t bring my feet underneath me in time, and I discovered my
least favourite way to fall. To make it even more frustrating, I hurt
my knee so I spent the next half hour glued to the miracle-working
infra-red machine. Our other miracle-worker and part-time mum, Nonnie,
is a nurse so she got us all on a course of painkillers and anti-inflammatories
My
next set was turns with Andre again, and I nearly made a reverse
front-to-back. Having decided that “nearly” wasn’t good enough, I was
ready to try again after lunch but Eugene made me dwell on it and we had
a look at my forwards slalom, which was fun- the wake of the Sensation
is all in the name!
The
DeVillier’s invited us to a BBQ at their place only two doors away, a
minute by boat, so after showering we all jumped in the trusty
“Dominator” and made our way over. It was good to see Ina and Zane
(with his leg in a cast recovering from broken bones), and the food was
great. At this point I was beginning to wonder if all South Africans
are professional chefs or whether we were so hungry that any food would
have tasted good. I’m still not sure, but we definitely weren’t
underfed during our stay (right Eugene?!) We stayed until about 10pm,
but not before Eugene showed everyone that he was “king of the universe”
at pool…until Ad beat him (nice one!)
Eugene began to notice that we were getting tired so he took us to the
lion park, but not before dragging us out of bed for a 6am ski – the
turns set I had been waiting for, and with both Andre and Eugene in the
boat (but unfortunately no video camera) it was amazing to make all
four! It took just under 2 hours to get to the park (I think Andre
talked the whole way) but when we got there it was definitely worth it.
We saw cheetahs and baby tigers, fed a giraffe and even stroked lion
cubs! They were so cute, I wanted to take one home. I don’t think it
would have been difficult either, as one of them got hold of my jeans
and wouldn’t let go. It was an experience I’ll never forget. We then
drove around 3 camps of bigger lions, just in time to see them get fed
by a guy with a death wish – he was standing on a “bucky” throwing
horsemeat off the back as it drove around being chased by massive
lions! On the way home we visited the flea market and had lunch at a
trusty McDonald’s.
In
the afternoon we went quad biking. I went on the back of Heiny’s,
holding on for dear life at first, but it didn’t take long for me to
decide that it was wicked fun and we swapped places and he taught me how
to drive. I think I got the hang of the clutch, and after some vicious
racing and dirty tactics we “nearly” beat Eugene back to the house. I
really don’t like that word. That evening, however, I joined forces
with the big guy and the “Fingerboard World Championships” began. Dan
and Adam won 1 game out of about 9, and only because I potted some of
their discs by mistake! Having got very involved in the game (you can’t
understand how good it is until you play) and because it requires both
mental and physical skill of the highest standards, I was soon worn out
and we gradually dragged ourselves to bed.
I
was happy with my progress in tricks and the way my slalom was going, so
after a discussion with Eugene we decided that I should really
concentrate on jump for the rest of the trip. When the wind picked up
and roughed up the water by the ramp we would train slalom on a
different stretch of river, but this didn’t happen very often. By late
afternoon I was mentally knackered, so it was great to curl up in front
of the TV with our hot chocolates. Nonnie had to leave us for a couple
of days while she went back to the city to work, so while the boys
tucked into their takeaway pizzas I restrained myself and opted for
salad – a change from the burger we had the day before.
The
rest of our time in beautiful RSA all merged together. All I can
remember is a lot of jumping, and the falls to go with it, and finishing
the days with some aggressive slalom. Dan broke his thumb, I think Adam
got heatstroke and I got concussion (which sucked ‘cause I don’t
remember anything that happened after it, and I missed out on some
valuable photo-taking time!) I knew that training with the South
Africans was going to be tough, but no amount of falls can ruin the time
spent with such awesome friends. I want to say thank you to everyone
out there who looked after us and, as always, made us feel so welcome –
the coaching wasn’t bad either…
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Emily G
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Having never been to South Africa before, the sheer prospect of seeing a
new country got me excited. On top of this, over the past year I had
been listening to stories from fellow GB team members, Ben Harris and
Adam Darby, about their previous trip skiing with the legendary Eugene
Sam. Basically, I couldn’t wait to get out there, and South Africa
certainly didn’t disappoint.
We
skied on the river at Wittbank under the coaching eyes of Eugene and
Andre de Villiers. I had prepared myself for an intense barefooting
regime and again I certainly wasn’t disappointed! After easing us into
the routine on the first day Eugene and Andre got into full flow. My
programme for the week was about 50% jumping, 40% tricks and about 10%
slalom. My skiing came on leaps and bounds, quite literally with the
jumping. Before the trip I had experienced a few big jumps but was
struggling to ski away anything more than 19-20 metres, but after some
landing technique practice on the short line and then chipping away at
the long line I left with more consistent landings and bigger jumps. In
tricks I came from two semi-consistent turns on the short line and hit
‘n miss turns long line to consistent four turns short line and
consistent three turns long line.
The
trip was broken up with a trip to a lion park and flea market. Being a
newbie to the continent, seeing lions outside of a cage was something
very new to me and very exciting. We got to pet and handle some of the
cubs in an enclosure and feed two giraffes before driving through the
main lion area. Ignoring suggestions from Eugene that I get out of the
car and rub a male lion’s tummy, we were able to watch several groups
being fed.
Our
last day was spent doing a barefooting photo shoot. Having got some good
pictures and film, Andre went out and played around with some
interesting new tricks, reminding us that while we’d all made a lot of
progress, we still had a long way to go! Overall an exceptionally
worthwhile trip, good skiing, good laughs, good friends, and good times
all round. Definitely a trip to remember!
Dan G
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