Its been a great few days in Whakatane (Fak-a-tan-ee). The family here have been so good to me and we've had a great time seeing the sights. If you've seen my recent Facebook update then you'll know we had a close call yesterday. The boys took me up to a waterfall that they like to climb. The only problem was that there has been non-stop rainfall for the past few days so the waterfall was flowing a little more 'aggressively' than usual.
To cut a long story short, we were trying to cross a section of rapids when I got pushed over part of the falls head first. The guys have since told me all sorts of horror stories about how people get pinned under the water and drown when this happens. As you can imagine, it's also especially stupid to go over head first given that there are often rocks waiting to give you a kiss on the face.
The miraculous part of the story is that my mate Hayden (in a split second decision) realised that I wasn't going to make it across the rapids. He dived out to help me and actually went over the waterfall too. Thankfully he had the experience to pin himself against the right rock and grab me before I was pulled the rest of the way down the rapids (where I would likely have broken most of the bones in my body).
Needless to say it was one of the scariest experiences of my life and we have been talking about it ever since. I still don't think any of us quite believe how fortunate we were. I guess someone was watching out for us.
Now I'm just hoping my bashed leg will heal quickly enough for me to enjoy the rest of my time in NZ! Here is a picture of Hayden just as he dived out after me, just before we were washed over the drop at the bottom of the picture. You can see my bald head on the left near the rocks and his on the right. Talk about having a new appreciation for the power of water!
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