New Zealand Weekly Update #78

Last updated on Mai 27, 2024

15th of April to 21st of April 2024

Approximate reading time: 3 minutes

Lets get it started

Whenever you think, things have gone wrong long enough, life hit you hard enough and you are about to be hopeful again, faithful again and you try to think about the next steps, life is laughing hard behind your back and is just waiting for the right moment. So this week monday afternoon. As I have told you, immigration is about to reject my current application for residency. No reimbursement. No „we put the application on hold“, no chance to change their mind. And well, applying for residency in New Zealand was a tough, long, hard and expensive process. But I always thought and still think that it is worth. For being able to spend a lifetime in New Zealand, to travel and work. To leave and come back whenever I want to. So well, decision has been made, I will try again. Apply again when the time has come, when the bank account is fileld with enough money to pay the fee again. Ready to go through this process again.
Monday afternoon, some friends and me decided to do some relaxing river flaoting down the Clutha River from Wanaka to Albert Town. Nothing seriuos. A beer, some music, kayaks and great nature. So we went to the river, got ready and started floating down. No white water, just a very great afternoon. A bit more water than usual but nothing to worry about. And me in the front with my kayak. The one I have been out with a lot. On the lake. Over night. In the middle of the night. Not the best one, but reliable.
So me in the front, down the river, again, nothing serious or dangerous at all. Some small bumpy „waves“ and a medium strong waterflow.
And out of the sudden, my kayak turned to the right side, 90 degrees, and a wave hit my kayak. And I flipped.
My body, my head under water. My paddle somewhere else. And I was not able to flip back again. I was stuck with my hip and legs in my kayak. I was not able to get out of it. And I got out of breath.
Trying to grab something with my hands, trying to keep my head above the water. And my only thought was to scream for the name of my friend Tony, about 100m behind me. Head above the water, breathing, while floating down and the kayak was sinking more and more. And I realized Tony heard me and was rushing to me as best as possible. Second after second I tried to keeo my head above the water, my hips and legs still stuck in the kayak. I don’t know how I managed to keep this body position, but I can still feel the sore muscles. I should consider doing more yoga to be more flexible, just in case…
And after endless moments, Tony arrived next to me, I grabbed his kayak and I was able to get out of my kayak. And I was able to breath again. And somehow we managed to get to the shore, to get me back on land. What was supposed to be a chilled afternoon with a chilled river flaoting turned out to be a serious, scary and life threatening experience. And I am so very grateful for Tony being so fast and for realizing how seriuos the situation has been. He literally saved my life that day. Whenever you have the chance to meet this guy, give him a passionate high-five.

What else to say?

Well, the rest of the week has been pretty „normal“, if this might be the right word for such a shitty start. Wednesday, I went for a hike with Tony and his friend Timi. We did the Lindis Peak hike, 800m elevation and some fantastic views towards Cromwell. Sunshine, blue sky and nature. At least some moments of recovery. And some trailrunning down to the car, being on steady ground and able to breath. And wednesday evening, I had heaps of people in the hosue to celebtrate my birthday and to celebrate to still being alive. I reckon in the end we have been 14 people in the house. Eating pizza. Drinking beers. Ending up until almost 1AM in the morning. Joking. Music. Talks. And finally, Max and Jess joined again and I was playing with little Finn, such a great and amazing little fella, almost 6 months old.
Well, I still try to process the events and I try to think about the next steps. Monday has been a complete shit show. It has been one of the worst days of my life, maybe the worst one so far. But it passed.
See you next week guys, hopefully with better news and updates 🙂

Your DingyInternational
Felix