I suffer with anxiety and struggle when meeting new people and going to new places, so I was feeling quite anxious on the morning that I set off. I was worried about whether or not I would fit in with the group of people that were going to be on the Access Adventures Waterski & Wake camp.
All the organisers and helpers were perfect - from preparing food, to sorting all the equipment and measuring everyone with a sit-ski ready for the Saturday morning. It was so well organised and stress-free. Most of us that were there had never waterskied before and were a bit nervous, but when we got in the water we had two instructors, one either side of us, they chatted to us about each step and how to get going. Within moments we were skiing, it was such a fabulous feeling to be up on the water, to be able to ride the wake behind the boat for the first time was something else! After the first lesson all my nerves had gone and I felt confident enough to try to push my boundaries.
I had tried adaptive waterskiing before but I was 16 years old at the time. As a young adult I became a carer for a lady with dementia and Parkinson’s disease and I was unable to do any activities for about 20 years. After caring for her, I started to try to get myself back into shape and I have tried kayaking and canoeing, until I came across an advert on Facebook for waterskiing with Access Adventures and I jumped at the chance to try it again. Luckily, I was
able to go to the June camp at Heron Lake.
I found the camp inspiring as there were a number of people there with different types of disabilities. It was fantastic to see Lizzie, who was in a wheelchair, jumping off the dock into the water on an adapted wakeboard and riding the waves solo, that was incredible. And James who had a head injury and whose motor skills have been affected, he got up skiing with the helpers assisting. The feeling that I got watching other people skiing for the first time was something else. I watched Tina completely change throughout the day, at first she was a little quiet and nervous, by the end of the day she was filled with confidence and had the biggest smile on her face when she was skiing. By the end of the weekend we had all made new friends and were all talking about meeting up again soon for more adventures. Access Adventures gives much more than just adaptive waterski lessons.
I enjoyed the camp so much, I've made some belting friends who I will be keeping in touch and I don’t feel worried about trying new things as much, because I know that people have my back and are prepared to help me in any way they can to give me the opportunity to try new things like skiing. Being on the camp I was able to be myself and I could help out where needed which was quite a nice change rather than people trying to do everything for me. Can't say enough about Access Adventures and the helpers you are the best!! Thank You.
It was nice watching the sun go down over the lake while we were all round the table sharing BBQ it was a nice end to a belting day, and the beer was good too. Utterly Delightful :-)
