When you decide to play it safe but life has other plans

Something happened today.

Me and a friend of mine, we went for a hike to one of the very popular places in Sydney called the Figure 8 Pool. The walk was pretty exhilarating. Royal National Park is extremely famous for the wonderful bushwalks and coastal walks with the ultra beautiful ocean views. The weather was very accommodating after a week long stint at rain and heat wave. It was our first time to the pools; all we knew about the place was a handful of pretty instagram pictures and one blog post. I knew instagram posts could be deceitful so I had decided to take this instant as every hyped thing that always comes up in my life by not being very excited and expecting the worst.

The walk from Otford station up until the Burning Palms beach was beyond expectations. The Otford lookout and the Werrong Beach lookout took the cake for the day. I could go back to doing the walk just for them. The Palm Jungle was also surprisingly very enjoyable in a weird but adventurous way. Up until the Burning Palms, things were going very smoothly. We made it to the beach in just under 2 hours. Then we had to head south along the very rocky seaside for an hour more to get to the famed pools. If we had missed seeing any fellow walkers along the coastal track, we were in for a treat (well, not really). We started seeing a crowd building up as we neared the pools. The place had a throng of people taking pictures in turn. Not appetizing at all. I wasn't attired for a dip into the water at all but I was up for a snap or two but seeing that many people teeming near the water hole, I changed my mind instantaneously.

We were tired so, we thought to sit under the shade, drink some, eat a little and watch people. After some time, the crowd seemed to have gone down to just a group of people and then a few. We had come this far, so I thought why not take a picture after all, if not in the pool but near the waves which seemed pretty cool as well. Off we went. There was a pool which amazingly seemed untouched by picture-takers. We decided it was a good idea for me to sit at the edge of the pool with the ocean on my back so I could have my picture taken with the waves splashing behind me. I gingerly put my phone beside me and sat down making sure I didn't wet my leggings that went three quarters down my legs. Since I so suck at posing for pictures my friend asked me to pretend to be doing my hair while looking at the waves at my side. As I turned for the "candid" pose, I saw a ginormous wave making its way towards me and all I had time to think was, "well, fuck". Before I was hit I had a split second chance to see my friend running for his life. Then it happened. I was thrown headlong into the pool which isn't really deep but I am a short person and I can't swim. I imagined myself surrounded in this bubble where there is just me. It's me for myself. And funnily for someone who can't swim I have found myself in these situations quite a number of times. So I did what I have been doing all these times - I survived. I thrashed my legs and waved my hands. My plan was to propel myself high enough for people to see me and understand I can't swim and come save me. My hope was to be able to save myself. By some miracle I felt the edges of the pool where there are some plant-like growth building up and I saw the sky. My friend was there grinning at me and asking if I was okay. I damn near died. (Well, not really because I certainly didn't see my life flashing before my eyes since I was concentrating hard on not dying) I said I was not okay. He pulled me up. I still had my sunnies on which I threw away because my eyes were burning and looking around I saw I had an audience.

I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. Me wanting to take a picture so I could post it for the some people to see, not thinking about the risk of it all, being on the very brink of life and death. I burst out laughing because why not. Half a minute later I realised I didn't have my phone. Well, fuck. After the water settled inside the pool, we saw it resting in peace at the bottom. A random guy who had been jumping into the pools all along (for the pictures) helped me take it out. Man, it was as good a gone phone as any. Salt water corrugates the inside of a phone faster than normal water can, and it had sat underwater for good 5 minutes already. My friend had ended up taking my picture after all. There I sit looking at the great wave knowing exactly what was going to follow next. Believe it or not, I have been through this all. A wave that hit and a phone I lost. I have to buy a new phone now. Will these incidents stop me from going to the beach? Probably not. I will be mindful of where I take my phone and I am nearer to deciding it's high time I learned swimming. You might be wondering why I haven't already. I have an irrational fear of deep water. I wouldn't call it aquaphobia or thalassophobia because I am not afraid of going near them. I have a very real fear of going underwater. I am scared of drowning.

In the meantime though, I have bagged another story I can tell.