Abseil down a waterfall

“I am standing at the top of a 50m high waterfall, preparing to plunge backwards over the precipice. The friendly Vanuatuan guide who is only wearing sandals, despite the water surging around our feet, gives me the thumbs up and a wide grin as he reminds me to keep my legs straight when I step off the edge. After taking a few deep breaths and holding tightly to the thick ropes that are securing me to safety, I slowly step backwards until I am essentially standing perpendicular to the face of the Mele Cascades. From there, I am able to run the rope through my hands and ease my way to a pit-stop 25m down, where I am re-attached to safety points and the entire process is repeated again. While less daunting than the first leg of the abseil, the second part had its own unique challenges, namely having to pass across the waterfall and have what felt like the equivalent of the contents of an Olympic swimming pool raining down on your head. The noise was thunderous and the gushing water so incredibly powerful that I was knocked off my path a couple of times. It needs hardly be said that we were all saturated, but completely exhilarated by the time we reached the pool at the bottom of the Cascades.”

“After stopping for lunch we reached the hardest and most terrifying part of the day… Abseiling down a 30m waterfall… Oh and 6m before the bottom the rope runs out and you have to jump back from the rocks with the water pounding down on you and jump backwards into the water with the water landing on you… So scary!! But we did it, and it was incredible. We had to do it just with socks on as shoes are too slippery and keep yourselves from falling into the rocks.”