Damn the dam -- its ours! Dad greeted the police officer politely, all the while kicking the obvious jump harnesses under the car. The rest of us, well we stood around looking about as innocent as Palestinians in Israel. But, luck was on our side and the two police officers were more interested in getting a warm cup of coffee than in questioning 11 people in harnesses. This is how it started -- our illegal-to-legal jump on the Hartebeespoort dam wall. We all met at 3.30am at the Indaba Hotel in Fourways, excited and nervous about our latest conquest. >From there, we tackled the treacherous drive to Harte's -- about 45 minutes of mist-filled winding roads to the dam. Once at our destination, we harnessed up, got the equipment ready and... ...bumped into a police patrol. A jump like this would put us behind bars if we got caught and the arrival of the boys in blue certainly did not make us feel safe! But we carried on as normal (as normal as we can be, hey Crash Test?) and prepared ourselves for what was to be the best start to anyone's day -- an illegal jump. Crash Test and Problem Child set out before the rest of us to go and set up the rope -- right at the tunnel entrance as you drive onto the wall. The rest of us followed shortly afterwards and get ready to do one of the most thrilling jumps of our lives.

First over were Crash Test and Problem Child, to whom we owe a great vote of thanks for finding the tree at the bottom of the jump that would have hit the rest of us square in the head had they not warned us. Second went Bush and Bump (Bump is also referred to as Duck, but the name changed after she decided to assault the East Gate Office Tower with her head during a promotional jump) and the third team consisted of Giggles and Getz (partners in crime). Buddha opted to go solo (being short and chubby meant that two instructors had to help him over the bridge rails) and lastly came Jinx (who rediscovered the tree) and Dad (who gave a brilliant interpretation of what walking on the moon must look like). Nine jumpers -- less than five minutes, and we had to wait for passing motorists to clear before the jumpers could go -- a brilliant example of how things should be done! The walk back out from the landing zone to the waiting vehicles proved to be just as amazing as the jump in -- we had to walk up an almost vertical rubble mound, then cross a 30m slime run-off channel (slippery, but no injuries to report! Had it been on film, however, it would have provided for some hilarious speed slipping action!) and then we had to cut our way through the fence to get back to the road (Gotta love Leathermans). Once back on top we had to retrieve the jumping gear and get back to the meeting point. This would have gone much faster if, according to some, Buddha had actually stuck to his diet -- the Corsa bakkie strained up the hills back to the meeting point. To our relief, the cops were still sulking over coffee and paid no attention to our whoops and cheers! Another illegal, another success, another conquest for the team. Dad said it best: veni, vidi, vicci! (We came, we saw, we conquered!) The dam wall is ours! Be fearless.