Ellie Hutchinson encounters adrenalin, exhaustion and good food near Thames.
Don't look down. Keep moving. Let your weight drop into your harness and lean riiiiiiiiight back. It takes absolute concentration and focus to make my body do these things, the total opposite of what my mind is telling me.
We know we are in the safest of hands with Russ, the owner of Canyonz, and Teri, our guide for the day, as these two have been working together for years. After a quick run through on the equipment, Teri says a traditional karakia (prayer), I assume for our safety, before we take it in turns to perch on the edge of the 30m waterfall. All we know is that this will be the first of 10 multiple pitches that we will be belaying, zip-lining, leaping off and sliding down. The majestic Kauaeranga Valley in the Coromandel Forest Park is just 13km to the east behind the town of Thames. From the car park, we apprehensively face our first challenge, navigating our way across the Kauaeranga River, once named Waiwhakauaeranga, which means "waters of the stacked-up jaw bones".
The equipment on our backs sends us slightly off balance as we tentatively hop from boulder to rock — "The canyoning shoes are incredibly grippy" Russ assures us. We embark on the Billygoat Track, which passes through native bush, past fine specimens of kauri, kowhai and rimu as well as a wide range of ferns and the only sound is birdsong.
Teri points out the remains of the tramway and tells us a bit about the extensive kauri logging that took place from the 1870s to the 1920s. As we near the top, we pause to take in spectacular views across the rugged hills to Table Mountain, finally arriving at the summit, the Sleeping God Canyon — Atuatumoe.
My friend Lizzie is the first to descend slowly down the steep wall, my heart is pounding like a sledgehammer as her blue helmet disappears. She makes it safely to the bottom and now it is my turn. Adrenalin is at an all-time high but Teri's encouraging words replay in my head and the resistance on the rope through the carabiner locks me in place, it takes significant effort to slowly feed the rope through the safety ring in order to actually move. Deep breathes and lots of positive thinking and we are soon celebrating the completion of our first obstacle with high fives and shaky legs.
