Tribewanted: Vorovoro

WahooOOOOOOo!

I’m feeling the relief today (and the aching in my shoulders) as I sit here and type. I have been building up to doing this challenge for a while now and it’s been one of my personal goals for a long time. Looking at the sea today, it’s almost a little surreal that it’s actually happened. Why did I want to do the Iron Maiden so badly and why was it so important to me?! Although I love exercise, I wouldn’t ever class myself as a runner and haven’t ever really done anything so physically challenging. I also wanted to have the opportunity to raise money for a really worthwhile cause and I feel strongly about Survival and what it has achieved for tribal people globally and because it’s so relevant to Tribewanted. I always say that if you want something bad enough, you can get it with determination and perseverance and I guess this was one thing I had to stick to, to get through it!

No delicious cake. No pancakes at breakfast. No grog for a month. I wanted to be super fit!

Black tip reef sharks had been spotted down at secret, secret beach and one evening I checked it out to see if it was true. Sure enough, 5 fins glided in and out of the breakers and circled around one another. Each evening for the last week they were there in search for a tasty fishy bite and continued to prowl around. Friday lunchtime, I even spotted them just outside the sunflower hut. I knew they weren’t dangerous but was this a sign? Then Jone Robinson and the tribe decided to chat about sharks on Friday night. ‘Plenty, plenty of sharks in the sea. Big ones, small ones. If Amy is swimming alone, she must be followed by a boat. Sharks swim. They can swim anywhere and everywhere’ Great. This is all I need. But then Jone Robinson reassured me and said ‘all you need to do is swim. Don’t think about the shark’. So I guess that’s what I had to do.

Sooo, although I had set the date for the Iron Maiden on the 2nd July, a mad, unusual week of downpours and cloud cover made it dicey and dangerous. Although we all willed the blue skies to reappear and the sun to shine down onto the rocks, my heart sank as I heard the pitter patter of rain outside Team Fiji bure on Wednesday night as we sat around the grog mat welcoming the new chief Lisa and listening to the melody of songs the boys belted out. Although I was hoping and praying throughout the night that Thursday would be the day, the grey skies and nightly drizzle had soaked the land making it impossible for me to do it safely. Although my mind was overly ready, my body ached with exercise, my tummy was full of pasta and I had done all the necessary exercise plan and slowly burned down to a halt. Patience. My mind and body were tired. I had come this far, I couldn’t give up yet.

New date. Sunday 5th July. This was the day. It had to be. Again, I psyched myself up. I rested on Saturday and ate lots of pasta again. I even had a sneaky chocolate bar for extra energy. I went to bed early knowing rest and fuel was the only important factors now. Sunday morning. Still grey skies but a peak of sunlight made the day look hopeful. The sea looked calm. P l e a s e ! I waited. I needed some distractions. We had our weekly meeting with the team and chatted about how the week had gone and what we were planning to do in the week coming. It started to drizzle. Oh no, not again. The rain stopped. Still the tide was too far out. Distractions, distractions. Then the sky let out another light 20 minute shower. Grrrr. I went up to Peak 1 and tested out the path. The plants were wet but it was alright. I just had to be sensible and take extra care. A little rain can’t beat me. Finally at about 11.30am, the tide was just right, out enough for me to do the run but would be in enough ready for the swim.

So, the time had come. I had my trainers on tight, my Survival vest on. Stop clock ready. Deep breaths. I kept repeating in my head, ‘I can do this, I can do this’…

I was off. As I jumped over the rocks and followed the path up to the dam, I had a surge of energy and a real adrenaline rush. You can do this Amy. Haha. It was the only way. As I leapt over the drift wood after peak 1 and along the beach filled with slippery mangrove leaves, I saw a sign that the tribe had made for me ‘Go Amy go!’ Wahoo! It made me really smile. This felt good. I went on up to Peak 2 and leaping up the slopes as the sunlight appeared and made my way along the ridge, through the shaded trees and across to peak 3. I shouted out ‘MinavandooOOoo’ and was quite surprised at how loud I was. It must be the sugar and banana I had eaten half an hour before. I scrambled up peak 3 with a quick glance down to the ocean below. Eeek. I was going to be in that in an hour. Man, I am crazy!

Next, I had to hurdle myself down the rocks and as I was coming off the last one, a sea snake was just in my path. Quickly I steered myself past and flung through the bushes through to the rocky beach.

COME ON!

…another rush of energy as I pelted across the pebbles up to the grave stones at the base of Peak 4. This is the trickiest part. My body was tired and crying out to stop. I was gasping for breath but I kept telling myself I had to keep going. Up past Nakawaga and down the earthy slopes to the mangroves. Yep, I slid on my bottom and aimed for the trees. This was the best way to get down here safely. Final stretch. I had done the peaks. Focus Amy. Across the wet rocks. Along the sandy stretch. Flop over the large trunk. Very graceful : ) Haha, good job no one was watching. Last bit of the run. Over the headland and to the village beach. As I ran past the breakfast table, I could hear shouts from the tribe and my name. Wow. This felt really quite special…

On to the swim. Lisa was there with the stop watch and yelled out my running time. Really?! I grabbed my swim cap (oh yes! Otherwise it would be the dreadlock look when I came back) and put on my mask and snorkel as I waded into the sea. Plunge. I was off. The first part was the toughest whilst catching my breath and getting into a breathing pattern. My muscles burned. I followed my hands and saw the little air bubbles float to the surface. Keep focused. I started counting in my head. Anything to keep me going. I could see Jone in the boat alongside me the whole way which gave me the confidence to be in such deep water. Amazingly, the sea was on my side and stayed calm and I didn’t see any sharks…phew!

As I came round the last stretch, I saw Lisa standing waiting for me and as I ran up the beach, most of the tribe came out of my house with a coconut trophy (made by Pupu and Lucas) and lots of applause. Awesome! Lisa told me my overall time. 2 hours 12 minutes. 33 minutes for the run, 2 minutes for me to change and gulp some water. 1 hour 37 for the swim :)

Thank you so much for everyone’s lovely jubbly messages and kind donations. They have all added up to over £670 which is incredible and well over my target so I am very chuffed! If anyone out there would still like to give a little to Survival, please check out my donations page: http://www.justgiving.com/vorovoroironmaiden/

V i n a k a everyone! Hammock time coming up :)