Women’s Fitness Adventures Foundation Member, Peta Green, not only shared a birthday weekend with us, she shared it on the Summit of Mt Barney in the World Heritage Listed National Park.
Here is her story…After returning from a wonderful multi-day fitness adventure to Italy with Women’s Fitness Adventures, I contemplated what I might do next.
I had always wanted to hike to the summit of Mt Barney, yet the best weather for climbing mountains was always around my birthday. So this particular year, I decided to do something for me – and “bagging the peak” of Mt Barney was exactly how I wanted to celebrate.
Having completed the pre-requisite mountain, I booked it in. The excitement was beginning to build.
After a birthday lunch with my partner, I packed my bags for the two nights and headed off to adventure. The location was only a few hours drive from home. I listened to my favourite music, stopping along the way to take photos and to enjoy the full experience. A summit weekend deserves the time pre and post the hike to share, reminisce and celebrate the achievement with fellow adventurers.
If I wasn’t excited enough, seeing the other members on the verandah of the homestead, our accommodation for the weekend, took me to another level.
After being introduced by the Women’s Fitness Adventures C.R.E.W Leader (that is the Community of Everyday, Real, Women), I immediately felt this is where I was meant to be.
We had a beautiful dinner together, and a lovely catch up getting to know one another a little more before heading off to sleep. It was an early start the next morning.
It was important that we had a nourishing breakfast before we started the hike. We would be burning energy all day and we needed to be fuelled. It would be a while until morning tea! We cooked and ate breakfast together and checked our gear before setting off on our adventure. We met our guide and off we went.
Firstly, the road was flooded, so it was either rock hop or take your shoes off and roll up your pants to cross. Some of us rock hopped, and the others waded through. We headed up the road and we kept on going up. Taking care of one another, scrambling over rocks and enjoying the most amazing views. At Morning Tea, as we sat, looking out over the most spectacular ranges, we had the most fabulous homemade protein balls.
After morning tea and heading up the mountain, the rocks got a little bigger – oh what fun. Then the best bit… using the rope to pull ourselves up along the ledge to get to the next section. I felt safe the whole time knowing the guide and the Women’s Fitness Adventures Leader had so much experience and care for not only me, but everyone in the group.
Once we reached the top, it was breathtaking.
I sat there eating my lunch and enjoying the most glorious weather and views that Queensland had to offer – we could even see Brisbane. I recorded my thoughts about my achievements on my phone knowing there was more to come. I wouldn’t have wanted my birthday any other way – it was perfect.
We started coming back down, jumping, scrambling, hiking and enjoying conversations. Although I went alone, I was never alone, always deep in conversation.
We reflected on a massive day as we walked back up the path to the homestead. The stretch and shower at the end of the day was the first of the highlights I enjoyed.
There was an open fire, pre dinner nibbles and the Celebratory Champagne. No one was driving, so we could sip and celebrate in comfort and without concern. We then savoured another wonderfully delicious meal, more chatter about the day and to my surprise a birthday cake! I cannot remember the last birthday cake I had so this was literally, the icing on the cake.
Sitting in front of the fire, telling stories and celebrating our achievements this birthday became one to hold close in my memory bank.
All that hiking guaranteed a great nights sleep and after a leisurely start to Sunday, with another cooked breakfast and more chats about our grand adventure, we headed home to share the tales of our successful hike with our family and friends.
I am so pleased that I took the weekend to participate in the adventure. From the moment I arrived, sharing with the group our anticipation, to the early start, but not so early that it took away from the adventure, to the time at the end of the day, where we all came together to reflect and celebrate our achievement – all were moments of pure magic.
It allowed me to truly appreciate what we did, in the company of like minded women.
Peta Green is a valued member of Women’s Fitness Adventures and has been since 2014. She is the CEO of Strong, Healthy, Women. Women’s Fitness Adventures is a Brisbane based fitness adventure company designed especially for women. With members across Australia, there are adventures to suit all levels of fitness and time availability. It was founded by Yvonne Shepherd in 2014.
