you want me to do what???

so last weekend I went on the SAR swiftwater rescue course. There was a basic course a few weeks previous that I missed cos I was still in Aussie so the course I was going on was the advanced one. Won't say I wasn't nervous- cos I WAS, especially after hearing the tales from the basic course and being told about what was promised for the next one.
We met up at Outram Glen at 8 for a drive up thru the forestry and a walk in under the Viaduct to the put in on the Taieri Gorge. After a safety brief we set off. It was pretty chilly weather but not nearly as bad as forecast (snow etc etc). The aim was apparently to stay dry for as long as possible- which was unfortunate for the guys in the second raft thru the pipeline rapid when their boat flipped in a hole. By now I was getting even more nervous- with good reason cos one guy took a REALLY long swim- several 100 metres at least and that water was COLD!!!.
Next up was a paddle to the Rock Garden where after a short snack stop we had a play with lining a raft and yup- SWIMMING. I knew i was going to struggle on that but found it much worse than I was expecting- lets just say that knowing there is a bloody great drop and water funnel on the river below you is a real incentive to stay on the bank so far as I'm concerned.
After missing the throw bag on my second swim I thought I was not getting into that eddy but luckily saw the rope end and was able to grab it.
Much to my relief we lined the rafts down the nasty bit with the guides on board, a near miss for Nick but he hung on in there.
Then for a long paddle against a strong head wind- the river mostly appeared to be blowing back upstream to meet us at times!
After ten minutes in a hot bath I STILL couldn't feel all my toes at the end of the day.
Day two and sleet showers to start us off.
After the same comments about staying dry within 30 minutes of starting off we were doing full on quick fire challenges with people swimming to rescue trapped victims, or at least get a line to the other side of the river to tie a boat onto.
I bottled the pipeline this time round !
At the Rock Garden a new delight awaited- an obstacle course. We had to make our way around a set course and weren't allowed to paddle the rafts! And the first thing was to swim across the river. Can't say I was too enthusiatic about this but managed it better than I thought I would but didn't like the curent the other side. Then came using the raft as a bridge across various rocks before going across on a zip line. I was actually getting a bit of adrelaline going by now and almost looking forward to the zipline- which paid me back by dunking me under water and nearly ripping the sling out of my hand before abandonning me in the middle of the river so I had to haul myslef across to the other side. Then we lined the raft away down the nasty bit- it's known as S*** yourself rock for good reason.
Lunch was a stunning BBQ at Steve's secret BBQ spot before heading out on the flat stuff- at least there was no head wind today but my hands were even colder than the day before.
All in all a couple of bloody good (if scary) days with some useful learning points.
Many thanks to Steve and his team of rafters, Southey for coming down to run the course, Brian for setting it all up and Scotty for getting the funding.