As we pulled into the Cave Stream Scenic Reserve, my heart was thumping madly for the second time. I got changed into my wetsuit, and then I had to wait a nerve-racking 15 minutes in the scorching Canterbury sun. I was actually so hot that I wanted to run straight down to the cave's entrance and get started. But no, I had to wait through the briefing before we started our long, tiring downhill walk to the starting line.
Once we started shuffling into the cave, the cave water cooled me down...too much! Within just 2 minutes, my legs were already numb from the cold water (even though I had thermals and a wetsuit)! After about 20 minutes of being in the cave, my body had mostly adjusted to the temperature, and we stopped at an area where we turned our torches off (yes, all of them!). There was only one word to describe that moment: SCARY! Luckily, the water shallowed out after that. At one waterfall, the current was SO strong, 2 people who knew everyone's names pulled me up the waterfall like I was a ragdoll!
After that, I came across Jai, who asked me how far the end of the cave was. I said about 10 minutes, and it turns out I was correct. Near the end of the cave, Reed Antman dived into the freezing cold water, which I found quite weird. While I was climbing up the rock face at the end of the cave, Mr Sinton-White asked me how the cave was. I replied: "Yeah, it was sort of alright." But to be honest, once I got out of the cave, I felt like a survivor of a zombie apocalypse.
