Abi’s Authorfy video was always bound to be ridiculously, utterly, stupendously exciting.

Abi is known for being an explorer, so we had our work cut out for us with planning another high-octane adventure. As well as paragliding off mountains in Brazil, abseiling into deep, dark caves, and living with Kazagh Eagle Hunters in Mongolia, Abi has watched Killer Whales leap out of the ocean in the Arctic, and explored World War 1 mountain tunnels in the Dolomites. Abi uses these adventures to fuel her ideas, so we wanted to capture another inspirational adventure on camera for all of you to see.

Luckily for us, this video didn’t involve a trip to the Amazon Rainforest or a hair-raising skydive from 12,000 metres in the air (personally, I was quite pleased about that one!). A lot of Abi’s adventures happen much closer to home – she grew up making dens in her back garden and hiking across the moors in Scotland, and she loves to carve catapults and climb trees –  so we decided to choose a location in England and see where the adventure would take us.

It didn’t take us long to come across the fantastic Land and Wave in Swanage. They do everything from kayaking and paddleboarding to raft building and archery. Then we learnt that we could go coasteering for the day – we could swim in the ocean, explore caves, scramble up cliffs and jump into the sea! That was it… that was what we wanted to do. If only they had warned us about the steep walk (‘drop’) to get to the water.

Have you ever seen a clip of a mountain goat leaping down a steep cliff-edge? They manage it with such style and grace, often leaping as far as 12 feet at once. But then there are the baby ones; the ones with much shorter legs who try to copy what their parents do but fail miserably and end up falling / tumbling / scraping themselves down the cliff. Sure, it’s the quickest way to get to the bottom, but it also hurts. A lot. Trust me; at 5’2 I was like that baby goat, trying everything I could to cling onto the cliff-edge, but nothing I did worked. Abi, our videographer, and the Land and Wave instructor made it down with ease, their long limbs managing the descent like it was a piece of cake. They didn’t even break a sweat. Then I tumbled down… desperately clinging to my phone in case I needed to call an ambulance when I got to the bottom. I won’t describe what I looked like when I eventually made it. I’m sure you can imagine the end result!

Once we arrived at the water’s edge, the clouds parted and the sun beamed down. We couldn’t have been luckier. We walked along the coastline, jumped over rock pools, and Abi even had some time to write in her notebook. Then it was time to explore the caves, scramble up the cliff and see what it felt like to jump into the water. Abi, our videographer and the instructor swam towards the first cave, leaving me to look after the bags / other cameras (and to nurse my scraped knees and bruised elbows). Abi ran across rocks, battled big waves and swam so far into the caves, there was barely any light.

Then came the cliff-jump; the main focal point of the video. We wanted you to see what it might be like to jump into the ocean from that high up. To experience the adrenalin rush and perhaps write about it in your own stories. But there was just one problem. By the time the videographer reached the top of the cliff, a little red light started to flash on his camera. The battery was about to run out! Instantly, Gully put his nerves to one side and positioned his feet over the edge. He didn’t even have time to count to three. He threw himself off, praying the battery would last just long enough for him to get to the bottom. Thankfully, it did, and you can see the cliff jump on Abi’s Authorfy page.

After refueling ourselves with chocolate and Pom-Bears (it’s now become a ‘thing’ to have Pom-Bear crisps at every video shoot), we decided to make our way back to the car. There was just one thing standing in our way… If it was nearly impossible for me to get to the bottom of the cliff, how on Earth was I supposed to climb back up!?