It's our first date in the outdoors. I'm doing my best to hide the near-crippling anxiety as we tramp our way up the side of a stunning yet seemingly sinister Westland river. You see, I like him, and the fact that he is brave enough to have paddled some of the gnarliest rivers in the world (in his kayak) and regarded as one of the safest 'bros' to be on the river with are attributes that attracted me to him in the first place. And now he wants to give me a look inside his world, from the safety of a packraft (of which I never knew existed until yesterday). I need to come to the party. Send help.
From the edge of the river, the rapids sound far too loud for someone like me to encounter. Someone whose utmost fear has been strong-moving water ever since I was dumped by a freak ocean wave as a five-year-old, not knowing which way was up or down (for too long),
