77 floors of nope

My adorable bear-man Jacob loves thrills. He finds something especially exciting about heights. I really don’t share his fascination with being so far from safe, solid ground.

So me, fiancé of the year, decided to book him a Q1 climb. You know that tall ass building in the middle of Surfers Paradise? The tallest building in Australia? That's the one!

I booked it on the quiet, excitement building knowing how excited he would be. Locked in, paid in full with a meal included. What a lovely morning it would be!

I have some insane ability (curse) where I get scared of things and scenarios that are probably not even possible let alone likely but become my obvious reality. In the weeks leading up to the surprise I was overcome with nightmares. Ridiculous fabrications from the corners of my mind where the wind got so bad, Jake got blown off the building while on the climb... after calming that thought by going over the obvious precautions that would literally be tying him to the structure, my mind would find yet another horrible situation where the whole building snapped in half, falling into the ocean where Jake couldn't escape the trusty binds that prevented him coming away from the thing. Oh, I'm that good.

I can't quite recall how close it was to the actual day of the climb when Jake woke up to find me hyperventilating on the lounge late one night. Yet another dream about the climb had accosted my sleep & I'd had quite enough. I couldn't stand it anymore! Ruining the surprise completely, I told Jake what dreams I had been having & why. Master of reassurance that he is, he just sprang around in his seat, happily imagining his climb to the top whilst I stressed that I had booked us into our doom.

The morning of the climb, my anxiety got so intense I had to run (literally & in the worst damn shoes) to the nearest pharmacy for some rescue remedy; something to take the edge off. Before Jake’s booking, we had time to suss the whole thing out. Did I mention Jake is scared of elevators, not a debilitating phobia but certainly not something he is comfortable with. So I held his hand with concern as we rode the super-fast elevator to the top floor. He was fine as soon as the doors opened & we stepped out into a small hallway that gave no indication that our elevation was now at a ridiculous extreme. No, that became clear upon stepping out into the wide glass walled “room” that encompasses the teeny tiny lie that is the elevator hall.

My legs trembled like mad & my biggest annoyance was that there was no way I was getting near enough to the glass to take any type of quality photo. I nudged my camera at Jake & told him to take some for me, I was staying right here, holding onto the wall for dear life. So that was of course his first snap. This is me, trying not to die …

We walked around the entire building like this – me shuffling along the wall, Jake at the glass, giddily snapping photos. Thankfully it was time to retreat. Back down the elevator where Jake met up with his fellow climbers & geared up. Now I had to get back up there, alone & take photos of this fool as he went outside and climbed to the very top. What the bloody hell had I been thinking? I made myself take photos of Jake’s climb. Sitting as I did because the thought of looking up & not being secured to anything made me even more terrified. As with any paid tour, they kept stopping and chatting. I kept hugging those inside seats well away from the window & checking on where he was every so often.

I convinced myself I could read a book while I waited (I'm a real funny gal). I read the same paragraph over and over because every time a careless toddler wandered over to the window & smooshed their face up on the glass and looked DOWN, I almost had a heart attack. I gave up on the book and hugged the walls again, moving around seemed to be more distracting if unreasonably difficult. I even tried to get some photos on my own.

Now, the Asian tourist scene at the Q1 that day was pretty happening. These loud, pushy visitors had below zero concern for the terrified Australian girl taking a tentative step away from the wall… they all just bustled on past, gathering me up in their crowd and edging me toward the window. The wind was knocked out of me, not by the physical contact but by the sudden realisation I was so close to the window, I couldn’t bring myself to move, as if I was on a thawing lake coming into Spring and any movement would make the ground give way beneath me. I don’t think anyone noticed me and I am glad but I certainly wish I had seen myself. It would have been comical to watch.

Jake finished his climb & I was there waiting as he stepped back inside the walls of the building, much to my relief. Did I mention I had breakfast added to this little adventure. I now had to sit and eat up in the air like it was all good. I managed to have something & keep it down while Jake, exhilarated from his climb downed a 3 tier seafood platter & nattered about all of the facts he had learnt oh and by the way, he had HUNG OFF the building. Harnessed yes but clearly hanging off the side of the place. I am so glad I didn’t know that was going to happen.

It was time to close down this part of the days adventure & I was more than happy to GTFO. This is where I all but skipped to the car after being reunited with solid ground…