Rainforest Rafting: White Water Odyssey

Summary

Real Survival Stories: Rainforest Rafting - White Water Odyssey

Hosted by John Hopkins

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Introduction to the Episode

In the gripping episode titled "Rainforest Rafting: White Water Odyssey," hosted by John Hopkins on the podcast Real Survival Stories, listeners are transported into the heart-pounding journey of Zemon Kingi and his group as they navigate the treacherous waters of Papua New Guinea's Angabunga River. This episode masterfully captures the essence of survival against nature's fiercest challenges, blending firsthand accounts with vivid narrative storytelling.

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Background of Zemon Kingi and His Friends

[03:55] The story begins in March 1986, with 17-year-old Zemon Kingi eagerly embarking on a two-day rafting expedition down the Angabunga River. Accompanied by his best friend Andrew Mulholland and the Mulholland family—Andrew's parents Shuna and Mike, and his younger brother Michael—the group anticipates a fun-filled adventure organized by Pacific Expeditions.

[06:07] Zemon shares his deep connection to Papua New Guinea, highlighting its rich cultural diversity with "New Guinea has a quarter of the world's languages. It has 720 languages in that country. It has 720 or even more cultures." His enthusiasm for exploring new terrains is palpable, setting the stage for the impending ordeal.

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The Rafting Expedition Begins

[09:48] As the group assembles at the old steel bridge, Pacific Expeditions' guides, Dave and Grant Trunac, conduct a safety briefing. They emphasize essential protocols, such as donning life jackets and staying near the riverbanks in case of a fall overboard.

[11:07] Zemon describes the lush, yet daunting environment: "The Papua New Guinean jungle is the world's third largest tropical rainforest, covering over 100,000 square miles. It's also one of the most biodiverse places anywhere on the planet." This vivid imagery underscores the formidable landscape they are about to navigate.

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Encounter with Treacherous Rapids

[16:15] The expedition initially proceeds smoothly, with the group enjoying the scenic beauty. However, the mood shifts dramatically as they approach a vast rocky canyon. Zemon recounts, "All it was missing was like a giant pterodactyl flying up the gorge. It was kind of like Jurassic Park... but on a big scale."

[17:07] The true challenge emerges as the river's current intensifies, creating formidable whitewater waves known as haystacks. The raft starts to violently buck and lurch, overwhelming the group. Dave, the guide, urgently commands Zemon to "lean forward over the bow and drive down hard with his paddle," signaling the shift from a leisurely float to a fight for control.

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The Raft Capsizes

[18:39] The situation escalates rapidly when the raft is hurled over a waterfall, resulting in a chaotic overturn. Zemon describes the terrifying plunge: "We're being shot over the waterfall sideways and it's about a six to eight foot drop beneath us." The raft becomes submerged, trapping them in the churning water.

[20:07] In the aftermath, Zemon and the guides manage to rescue several group members, but panic ensues as Shuna and Michael Mulholland surface injured, and Andrew and Don remain missing. The group faces immediate decisions about whether to continue downstream or attempt a risky search for their missing friends.

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Survival and Search Efforts

[24:09] With night approaching and no sign of Andrew and Don, Zemon and the remaining survivors decide to spend the night at a pre-set campsite. Shuna's distress is palpable as her cries echo through the jungle, highlighting the emotional toll of the ordeal.

[35:54] The next day dawns with renewed determination to find Andrew and Don. The group attempts to navigate the river using makeshift rafts constructed from rubber tubes, but disaster strikes again when their raft is swept away by the powerful current, leaving them stranded and desperate.

[37:37] Undeterred, the survivors press on, battling physical injuries, treacherous terrain, and the ever-present threat of wildlife. Zemon reflects on their resilience: "We never lost hope. We never had a moment to say, oh, woe is me. It was always, okay, this has occurred. What are we going to do next?"

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Reuniting and Returning Home

[42:54] As despair looms, a flicker of hope emerges when Zemon spots two helmets on a rock—a sign of Andrew and Don. "I remember looking downstream and seeing two helmets on a rock... and then these guys start waving back to us." The emotional reunion is a testament to their unwavering spirit and the power of camaraderie.

[47:05] Reunited, the group salvages their raft and joyfully prepares to head back to civilization. Exhausted but alive, they make their way to the takeout point, marking the end of their harrowing three-day survival saga.

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Long-term Impact on Participants

[48:20] In the aftermath, Zemon reflects on how the experience profoundly shaped his life. "It opened the door to all of these other ventures that came downstream as a result of this." His encounter ignited a lifelong passion for river adventures and forged enduring friendships with Dave and Grant.

[50:05] Years later, Zemon reconnects with the Mulhollands in London, realizing the lasting impact of their shared ordeal. "For all of us, it was such a defining moment in our lives. It was a major event." This reunion underscores the enduring bonds formed in the crucible of survival.

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Conclusion

"Rainforest Rafting: White Water Odyssey" is a riveting tale of endurance, friendship, and the human spirit's capacity to overcome extreme adversity. Through Zemon Kingi's vivid recounting and the podcast's immersive narrative, listeners gain profound insights into the complexities of survival in one of the world's most formidable environments. This episode not only entertains but also inspires, reminding us of the resilience inherent in ordinary individuals faced with extraordinary circumstances.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Zemon Kingi [06:07]: "New Guinea has a quarter of the world's languages. It has 720 languages in that country. It has 720 or even more cultures."

• Zemon Kingi [16:15]: "All it was missing was like a giant pterodactyl flying up the gorge. It was kind of like Jurassic Park... but on a big scale."

• Zemon Kingi [17:07]: "When Dave said, you got to really kind of paddle in and hold on because we don't want to flip over, then I realized that, okay, things have changed now."

• Zemon Kingi [24:09]: "Dave and Grant took over and made the executive decision that we're going to go to the halfway point to the shelter and we're going to spend the night here."

• Zemon Kingi [35:54]: "We started walking down, but the walls of the gorge were super steep and in some places vertical."

• Zemon Kingi [37:37]: "We never lost hope. We never had a moment to say, oh, woe is me. It was always, okay, this has occurred. What are we going to do next?"

• Zemon Kingi [42:54]: "I remember looking downstream and seeing two helmets on a rock... and then these guys start waving back to us."

• Zemon Kingi [48:20]: "It opened the door to all of these other ventures that came downstream as a result of this."

• Zemon Kingi [50:05]: "For all of us, it was such a defining moment in our lives. It was a major event."

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Final Thoughts

This episode of Real Survival Stories not only narrates a thrilling survival tale but also delves deep into the emotional and psychological impacts such experiences have on individuals. Zemon Kingi's journey serves as a powerful reminder of the thin line between adventure and survival, and how resilience and unity can lead to triumph even in the direst situations.

For those eager to explore more harrowing and inspiring survival stories, stay tuned for upcoming episodes, including the next thrilling tale of Viv Bird, a British aviator facing the unforgiving Arctic wilderness.

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Produced by Joel Duddell, Ed Baranski, Luke Lonergan, Miri Pitman Latham, Jacob Booth, Rob Plummer, Cian Ryan-Morgan, and Cody Reynolds-Shaw. Music composed by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, and Tom Pink.

Transcript

[Zemon Kingi]

Decisions, decisions.

[Andrew Mulholland]

Wait a minute. Are you still looking for cars on Carvana?

[Zemon Kingi]

Yeah.

[Narrator]

Decisions, decisions.

[Andrew Mulholland]

When I use Carvana, I found the exact car I was looking for in minutes. Bought it on the spot.

[Zemon Kingi]

Electric or full diesel. Decisions.

[Andrew Mulholland]

Come on, you've been at it for weeks.

[Zemon Kingi]

Just buy it already.

[Mike Mulholland]

You're right.

[Shuna Mulholland]

Crossover it is.

[Zemon Kingi]

Decisions decided.

[Dave]

Whether you know exactly what you want or like to take your time, Buy your car the convenient way. With Carvana.

[Narrator]

It's March 1986, deep in the jungle of Papua New Guinea. Beneath a canopy of tangled vines, a swollen, muddy river snakes its way through the forest. After months of monsoon, the river has burst its banks. Sluggish brown water spills into the surrounding grasslands and bamboo groves, turning this tropical jungle into a fetid swamp. As the rain continues to hammer the canopy, the forest is alive with noise. But for 17 year old zemon Kingi, submerged deep beneath the river's surface, the only sound is the blood rushing in his ears. The teenager opens his mouth and lets out a muffled scream. Far above him, thin shafts of light slice through the water, cutting through the murky green depths to the riverbed where Zemon lies helpless. He tries to move his arms, but they won't budge. Something is binding him tight, like his body is strapped into a straightjacket. Zemon can feel the current rushing past him. He can feel the slimy weeds coiling around his limbs, pulling him deeper into the mud. His lungs are on fire as his body consumes the last traces of oxygen when suddenly Zemon wakes in a cold sweat. He looks around at the dark jungle and the kind concerned faces of his adult companions. He was only dreaming.

[Zemon Kingi]

And I remember just thrashing around violently and screaming and shouting and Mike waking me up and then consoling me. You know, I burst into tears and was crying and I remember him giving me a hug and saying, you know, you're okay, you're going to be all right.

[Narrator]

Zemon takes several steadying breaths and slowly he remembers where he is and why he is here in the darkness. You can hear the rain pattering against the surface of the river. The river they've been trying to navigate down for the past two days. Covered in stinging bites and painful bruises, shaken by the horrors of the past 24 hours, Zeman lies back and closes his eyes. He may have just woken up from one bad dream, but he stumbled straight back into a waking nightmare. Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes? If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice? Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives. In this episode, we meet Dzemon Kingi in March 1986. He and his best friend Andrew are on a rafting trip through the jungle of Papua New Guinea. They're having a blast until the fun abruptly stops.

[Zemon Kingi]

The entire boat is submerged, right? The whole wave kind of explodes over us. Everyone's underwater and then we're just pushing through. So we were out of control by this stage.

[Narrator]

When the raft hits a waterfall, Andrew and another member of the party are separated from the group with no idea if they're dead or alive. Zemon will join the rescue effort, setting off back down the river on a mission to find his friend before the crocodiles do.

[Zemon Kingi]

And then I could see that actually this log has a couple of nostrils on the end of it and there's some eyes behind those nostrils. That's not a log.

[Narrator]

I'm John Hopkins from Noiser. This is Real Survival stories. It's Saturday, March 8, 1986, in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. A lanky, dark haired 17 year old strolls along the city's main oceanfront promenade. To his left, the waves of the coral sea lap gently against the white sand beach. To his right, a lush green hillside is dotted with hotels and low rise condominiums. Zemon glances both ways before trotting across the road, weaving deftly between the traffic. Though he's a New Zealander by birth, he's grown up here in New Guinea. His father is an accountant for a local airline and his mother is a teacher. For the past few years, Zemon has been abroad at boarding school. After graduating last summer, he moved back to Port Moresby for a gap year before starting university. It was an opportunity for him to spend some quality time in the country he is proud to call home.

[Zemon Kingi]

I was very attached to Papua New Guinea. New guinea has a quarter of the world's languages. It has 720 languages in that country. It has 720 or even more cultures. With that, you have a pantheon of gods, you have amazing art, you have all of this incredible diversity.

[Narrator]

Still, Zeemon doesn't let his cultural interests interrupt his beach time. As a keen windsurfer, he spends most days out beyond the breakwater, fully enjoying this rare carefree interlude before university starts in the autumn. Of course, none of this would be nearly as much fun without a friend to share it with. As he walks along the pavement, Zemon catches sight of a group of people gathered outside the entrance of a hotel among them is a skinny, suntanned teenager leaning against a wall. When he spots Zemon, the boy grins and waves. Andrumalholland is Zemon's best friend. They've got a lot in common. Both are outgoing and adventurous. Both are the children of expats and both attended boarding school in different countries. Andrew in the uk, Zaman in New Zealand.

[Zemon Kingi]

But we would come back during holidays and we would hang out together. You know, we'd usually end up playing squash all day or going exploring and doing things. So it was a pretty lucky childhood. He and I were good friends.

[Narrator]

Recently, Andrew revealed some bad news. The Mulhollands are moving back to the uk. In a few months they'll be leaving New guinea for good. Though the boys have promised to stay in touch, it's a sad moment. Perhaps in recognition of this fact, Andrew's parents, Shuna and Mike have invited Zeman on a family rafting trip.

[Zemon Kingi]

And so they thought they were leaving. This would be a fun thing for the boys, would be to go and have an adventure like this. And not long after that they were returning back to the uk. So it was kind of like a farewell trip.

[Narrator]

The trip is a two day rafting expedition down the Angabunga River, a meandering waterway that flows through the New Guinean mountains. It'll be going with an organized tour group, Pacific Expeditions, who have promised the Mulhollands a gentle float trip with only one short whitewater section. Still, when he first heard about the proposed excursion, Zemon's excitement was tempered by nerves. Rivers are something of an unknown quantity to him.

[Zemon Kingi]

My world was windsurfing, was being on the ocean, was sailing and the ocean was something that I was deeply attached to and felt completely comfortable with. But rivers were a different thing. You know, I didn't understand the currents in New guinea. You've got crocodiles, you've got lots of things that swim around in rivers. And so there was an unknown entity, so there was hesitation. But at the same time I, I had the opportunity to go with my best buddy and to go experience something new. So I said yes.

[Narrator]

Later that morning, Z sits in the backseat of a Land Rover as it trundles deeper into the mountains. Pacific Expeditions is a new tour company. This will be their first commercial outing with paying clients. The two guides have carefully scouted out the route beforehand, but still today is a day of firsts for everyone. Among the group, excitement and trepidation builds.

[Zemon Kingi]

The entire team was the two raft guides. There's Dave and Grant Trunac. They were the owners of Pacific Expeditions. And then we had our driver, Aloo and myself, Andrew, his parents, Shuna and Mike Senior, and then his brother Michael.

[Narrator]

Finally, there's Don, a family friend of the Mulhollands, who was invited along for the ride. After six hours, the Land Rover pulls up. Zemon jumps out of the vehicle and along with the rest of the group, makes his way down to an old disused steel bridge abandoned by the Australian army after World War II. As he steps onto the bridge, Zemon looks down at the river, A broad muddy stripe splitting the rainforest canopy in places overflowing after heavy rain.

[Zemon Kingi]

All we could see is this very large chocolate brown river underneath us. And the river had also gone into the local grasses and it was obviously high, which we thought was great because it meant we didn't have to walk too far down the slope and drag the raft down to the river.

[Narrator]

With the group assembled along the riverbank, Dave begins the safety briefing. First he hands out personal flotation devices, PFDs or life jackets. He issues helmets and wooden paddles. Then he explains the protocol should anyone fall overboard. The instructions are simple. Get to the banks, stay by the river and don't wander off.

[Zemon Kingi]

And I remember this clearly because he said the reason for this is if you try and walk out on this river, it's about five, six days walk to the nearest road, if you know where you're going.

[Narrator]

Zemon glances up at the tree covered mountains beyond the valley walls. They seem to stretch on forever. Gauzy white clouds drift between the hills like smoke. The Papua New Guinean jungle is the world's third largest tropical rainforest, covering over 100,000 square miles. It's also one of the most biodiverse places anywhere on the planet. A seemingly infinite array of reptiles, birds and insects dwell among its luscious valleys. Lowland swamps, twisting rivers, lagoons and gorges. For anyone lost in this gargantuan green maze, the likelihood of survival is slim.

[Zemon Kingi]

There's just so many accounts when you look at the history of New Guinea. For example, I know of accounts of battalions of Japanese who were moving from one base to the next who completely disappeared into the mountains. These mountains are treacherous, so the country is really unforgiving. It's super tough. And as they said, if you were to try and attempt to walk to a road, chances are you probably wouldn't make it.

[Narrator]

With Dave's sober warning ringing in their ears, the six tourists and two guides clamber inside the bright yellow 14 foot inflatable raft. Zaman is seated in the front Alongside Dave. Behind them, it's Mike and Don, then Shuna and 13 year old Mike Jr. With Andrew and Grant sitting in the back. After a brief tutorial going through paddling techniques and commands, they push off from the bank and immediately pick up the river's brisk center current. The plan for the day is a four hour float to the halfway point 12 miles downstream where a pre made campsite is waiting for them. Tomorrow, another four or five hours will bring them to the takeout where they'll be picked up by driver Alu and taken home. Zemon savors the sensation of the wind in his hair cutting through the midday heat and humidity. He grins as somebody, probably Andrew, playfully splashes him with water. As the river unspools before them, the nerves recede.

[Zemon Kingi]

You know, the guides are excited. We're excited. Yeo is just like a giant adventure was about to unfold. Nah, not quite.

[Narrator]

What's up?

[Mike Mulholland]

Sell my car in Carvana.

[Zemon Kingi]

It's just not quite the right time.

[Andrew Mulholland]

Crazy coincidence. I just sold my car to Carvana.

[Mike Mulholland]

What?

[Shuna Mulholland]

I told you about it two days ago.

[Andrew Mulholland]

When you know, you know, you know. I'm even dropping it off at one of those sweet car vending machines and getting paid today.

[Zemon Kingi]

That's a good deal.

[Grant]

Great deal.

[Andrew Mulholland]

Come on, what's your heart saying?

[Mike Mulholland]

You're right.

[Narrator]

When you know, you know. Sold.

[Dave]

Whether you're looking to sell your car right now or just whenever feels right, go to Carvana.com and sell your car the convenient way. Terms and conditions apply.

[Shuna Mulholland]

Bada bada boom.

[Narrator]

Sold. Huh?

[Shuna Mulholland]

Just sold my car on Carvana. Dropping it off and getting paid today already.

[Narrator]

What?

[Shuna Mulholland]

You still haven't sold yours? You told me about it months ago.

[Zemon Kingi]

I just.

[Shuna Mulholland]

Is the offer good?

[Zemon Kingi]

Oh, the offer's great.

[Shuna Mulholland]

Don't have another car yet.

[Andrew Mulholland]

I could trade it in for this car I love.

[Shuna Mulholland]

Come on, what are we waiting for?

[Zemon Kingi]

Ah, you're right.

[Narrator]

Let's go.

[Dave]

Whether you're looking to sell your car right now or just whenever feels right, go to Carvana.com and sell your car the convenient way. Terms and conditions apply.

[Narrator]

The first stretch of the river takes them past rows of cultivated gardens, lush emerald green lawns and colorful flower beds planted by local villages. Very soon, however, the vegetation grows denser, wilder. Giant ferns and towering bamboo crowd the riverbanks. Weeping fig trees extend their branches over the water, trailing mossy tendrils in the stream. After rounding a few more bends in the river, a vast rocky canyon opens up around them. Soaring hundred foot cliffs loom on either side. Craggy precipices draped in hanging vines.

[Zemon Kingi]

All it was missing was like a giant pterodactyl flying up the gorge. It was kind of like Jurassic park, you know, green and vines and water, but on a big scale. You know, you had a lot of water moving down and a big angry river charging down the gorge.

[Narrator]

Zemon peers around in awe, but he doesn't have time to enjoy the scenery. He needs to concentrate, because as the water funnels into the gorge, the current grows stronger.

[Zemon Kingi]

Immediately, the river started to pick up. So you go from little riffles on the river, right? So things are starting to kind of splash. And then you'd have these tiny little standing waves that you're punching through. You got kind of a little bit of water coming over the bow wee bit. And then these waves start to pick up in size.

[Narrator]

The raft bucks and lurches. Waves form above underwater boulders as the current runs up against the submerged obstacles. These waves, known as haystacks, resemble static barrels of white water continually cresting and collapsing beneath their own weight.

[Zemon Kingi]

So this was fun. We were getting splashed and, wow, this is getting exciting. But then the haystack started to build up and they came at us with greater intensity. So you've got people that are now baling, and we had a large kind of empty paint bucket that we're using to bale.

[Narrator]

As they crash over haystack after haystack, more and more water sloshes into the raft. Zemon can hear the nervous laughter behind him turning into panic. Things are getting dicey. He glances across at Dave, hoping for some reassurance, but the guide is preoccupied, his face a mask of concentration. He barks a command at Zemon, telling him to lean forward over the bow and drive down hard with his paddle. If they're not careful, they could lose control of the raft entirely.

[Zemon Kingi]

When Dave said, you got to really kind of paddle in and hold on because we don't want to flip over, then I realized that, okay, things have changed now. You know, this is not what we're being sold. This is no longer a flow trip.

[Narrator]

The raft is being swept along like a leaf in a storm drain. They careen across the rapids, powerless against the current. They spin 90 degrees until they're horizontal across the river. They're wildly out of control. Zemon twists and looks over his right shoulder, and his stomach drops. Up ahead, you can see a length of white foam spanning the width of the river. Before it drops away, it's a waterfall.

[Zemon Kingi]

Just remember it being a furious whitewater section with a ton of waves coming at you. But then I do recall hearing, hang on, it's now a river wide waterfall and we're falling over it sideways and it's about a six to eight foot drop beneath us. And that's where the raft gap sized.

[Narrator]

At the bottom of a gorge in the jungle of Papua New guinea, an upturned raft is trapped in the churning froth at the base of an eight foot waterfall. Suddenly, a head appears amid the roiling foam. Zemon gasps and splutters, his life jacket shoved up around his ears. Acting on survival instincts alone, he grabs hold of the side of the raft and tries to clamber on.

[Zemon Kingi]

So now the raft is upturned. I'm on the bottom of it, super slippery, you know, there's nothing to grab onto. You kind of like like a limpet, right? You're trying to suck on like a gecko and hang onto the surface while it's being pulled into the falls behind you.

[Narrator]

Amid the watery chaos, Zemon just about manages to get a grip on the raft. Breathing heavily, he scans the white water. Dave and Grant appear first, gasping for breath, their helmets wrenched askew. Zemon helps both guides clamber up. Then he looks around for the others.

[Zemon Kingi]

Andrew's mum, Shuna, pops up and she's now bleeding. She had hit her teeth and she's got blood on her face. The dad pops up, Mike, and he's in shock. We're all in shock, right? What had occurred. And then Mike Jr, Andrew's brother, he also is bleeding as well. He hit himself, whether it be from the paddle or from the rocks. And then we cannot find Don or Andrew. Neither of them pop up.

[Narrator]

The churning whitewater crashes around them in a deafening, thunderous roar. There's no sign of Don or Andrew. Then suddenly the raft shoots forward, ejected from the base of the falls and back into the surging current. Now Zeman sees a new problem rapidly approaching. The head wall of the gorge is up ahead, less than 100ft away. The river slams against it with the force of a runaway train. As the unga bunga follows a dogleg in the canyon floor, the upturned raft hurtles towards this next obstacle. It seems inevitable that all six of its remaining passengers will be violently tossed into the seething maelstrom. Once again, seconds are all they have. Zeman presses himself against the slippery underbelly of the raft, digging his fingers into the taut rubber as they go shooting up the sheer head wall like a surfboard climbing a wave.

[Zemon Kingi]

We then wash up into the head wall. We're pretty much standing vertical on this thing. We somehow manage to stay on and then wash down. And then we go along the wall and sweep around the corner and we've gone.

[Narrator]

Curving around a sharp bend. The steepest part of the canyon is now behind them. And at last, the gorge widens and the current eases. The raft flows forward into an eddy of calm where Dave and Grant can navigate to the riverbank. They jump off and drag the boat onto a stony beach.

[Zemon Kingi]

And we sat there for about a good 30 minutes waiting to see if those guys would show up, right, Hoping that they would swim around the corner and come to us. And so we sat there for as long as we could in the hope that they would appear.

[Narrator]

But Andrew and Don don't appear. The guides begin an immediate inquest. Did anyone see them? Back at the waterfall, everyone shakes their heads as Shuna starts to panic. Dave and Grant offer some reassurance. They explain that after becoming separated from the raft, Don and Andrew will most likely have followed protocol. They will have swum to the shore and stayed there. If that is the case, then the best course of action is for the rest of them to continue downriver to the takeout, then drive back upriver and begin the search effort tomorrow. They can't walk back upstream from here. The gorge is way too steep, the current too strong.

[Zemon Kingi]

Dave and Grant took over and made the executive decision that, you know what, we're going to go to the halfway point to the shelter and we're going to spend the night here because, hey, you know, light is fading. We're getting now into the end of the day, and darkness is going to come real fast here. We're in the gorge, and also we needed to attend to Andrew's mum, Shuna, and his brother, who had been injured.

[Narrator]

For Shuna and Mike Senior, leaving their son behind goes against every parental instinct. But the guides insist it's the safest way, and so they climb back into the raft and float downstream. Half an hour later, they reach a point where a campsite has been set up on a raised platform above the riverbank. They disembark and unload the raft while one of the guides starts tending to Shuna and Mike. Junior Zemon helps prepare dinner in the gathering dusk. Up on the raised wooden platform, you can hear Shuna crying, the sounds of a mother's grief echoing around the twilit jungle.

[Zemon Kingi]

I remember taking food up to Shuna and climbing up onto the platform and giving her this food, and she kind of looks at me and then she stops and she points past my shoulder and she screams and she says, there's a man and is screaming. And I remember just I didn't drop the food, but I turned around and it was just the light and the shadows in the jungle that were playing with her. And then she burst into tears and Mike's consoling her and obviously, yeah, extremely distressed by the loss of her son.

[Narrator]

Later that night, Zemon lies wide awake beneath the canopy shelter, listening as the driving rain drowns out Shuna's sobs. He can sympathize, but for his own part, he tries to remain pragmatic.

[Zemon Kingi]

I can't recall having that sense of death, you know, like I didn't feel like they were dead. For me, there was a sense of hope that they were okay, but maybe they were injured or it was more. So where were they? How can we get to them?

[Mike Mulholland]

Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. Recently I asked Mint Mobile's legal team if big wireless companies are allowed to raise prices due to inflation. They said yes. And then when I asked if raising prices technically violates those onerous two year contracts, they said, what the are you talking about, you insane Hollywood. So to recap, we're cutting the price of mint unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Give it a [e-mail] Switch $45 upfront.

[Zemon Kingi]

For three months plus taxes and fees. Promoting for new customers for limited time, Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month. Slows full [e-mail] this episode is brought.

[John Hopkins]

To you by Amazon Prime. There's nothing sweeter than baking cookies during the holidays. With Prime, I get all my ingredients. Ingredients delivered right to my door, fast and free. No last minute store trips needed. And of course, I blast my favorite holiday playlist on Amazon Music. It's the ultimate soundtrack for creating unforgettable memories. From streaming to shopping. It's on Prime. Visit Amazon.comprime to get more out of whatever you're into.

[Narrator]

It's the following morning. After a restless night, Zemon, the Mulhollands, and the two raft guides are back on the river, continuing their journey downstream. The rain has cleared, leaving another hot sunny day in its wake. The group paddles with purpose, intent on getting to the takeout and heading back upstream as soon as possible. The atmosphere is tense, heavy with uncertainty. All around, the jungle buzzes with life.

[Zemon Kingi]

As the river started to widen out. You get these kunai grasses and big grass that grows along the side of the riverbanks. You've got bamboo, you've got big trees, jungle You've got beautiful birds, flying brahmini kites and toucans and parrots. Papua New guinea has amazing bird life. And then you get kind of these beaches with the grasses and things. And that's where we see our first crocodiles sunning themselves.

[Narrator]

From a distance, they look like logs. But a closer inspection reveals several pairs of unblinking reptilian eyes, long warty snouts, and rows of yellow snaggled teeth. The crocs lazily eye the raft as it drifts quietly by.

[Zemon Kingi]

We're looking at them and we're trying to get downstream as fast as we can, so we see them, we notice them, but we keep moving.

[Narrator]

New Guinea's inland waterways are home to approximately 100,000 crocodiles, both freshwater and the more fearsome saltwater variety. Seeing them only reaffirms the need to find Andrew and Don asap. A couple of hours later, they arrive at the takeout. Zemon helps the guides pull the raft onto land. They deflate it, then hurry up the road to meet Alu, the driver, who's waiting with a Land Rover. It's decided that a second car will be arranged to take schuner and Mike Jr back to Port Moresby. They need to get their injuries checked at the hospital. Meanwhile, the others, Grant, Dave and Mike Senior, will go with Alu back up to the Putin, where they'll begin the search for Andrew and Don. As for Zemon, he's given a choice. Return to Port Moresby or join the search effort.

[Zemon Kingi]

They said, this is the plan. We're not forcing you to say yes to this plan, but if you want to go home, understood? Alu can take you back. And yeah, I said, no, I'm coming with you. It was not a moment of doubt in my mind that I was not going down the river again because it was my friend that needed rescuing. You know, my buddy is on the river, we have to go find him.

[Narrator]

It's mid morning. Zemon and the others sit in the Land Rover as they hurtle back to the Putin. He watches the quivering speedometer creep higher and higher. Arlu has been told to floor it. En route, they stop briefly to stock up on provisions, buying food, water and 4K tie inner tubes for additional buoyancy. When they get to the river, they waste no time in launching the raft and setting off downstream. Soon, the roar of the rapids can be heard. A distant, ominous rumble. To avoid losing control of the raft again, the team has devised a new approach for navigating the whitewater. Instead of paddling, they planned to get out of the raft and walk along the bank, guiding the boat through the rough water with ropes.

[Zemon Kingi]

We were going to line the boat down the river like that because there was no way that we were going to run the rapids, right? We knew that if we were going to run the rapids, we were going to capsize again. We may be killed.

[Narrator]

First, they paddle the raft across to a beach on the far bank. They stash the inner tubes as an insurance plan if anything happens to the raft. Then they prepare two ropes, One extending from the bow at the front of the boat, the other from the stern at the back.

[Zemon Kingi]

And then we began the process of lining the boat down the river. And so it was, Dave and I were on the stern. We go downstream, we secure the line. Mike and Grant are upstream. They release the bow line. RA swings around. We now become the bow. They go down. So we do this a couple of times, right? And we're making our way down the gorge and we're feeling pretty proud of ourselves that so far this is working.

[Narrator]

It's slow, methodical work, but rope length by rope length, they walk the raft downriver. As Mike and Grant secure the bow for a third time, Zamon and Dave start picking their way along the side of the gorge, looking for a place to tie off the stern line. But they won't get far. Unbeknownst to them, the raft has become caught behind a semi submerged boulder. As water continues to surge over it, it steadily fills.

[Zemon Kingi]

So now the raft is filling up with water and it's becoming heavier and heavier and heavier. And as a result, it's starting to pull on the D ring. So the D ring, that's where the bowline is attached to, is getting pulled out. And all of a sudden, bam.

[Narrator]

It sounds like a gunshot. Startled, Zemon looks around for the source of the noise. And then he sees it. The raft, free of its tether, is racing off downstream. He and Dave are still holding onto the stern line, but the force of the river and the heavily weighted boat is too great. And the rope is ripped from their hands.

[Zemon Kingi]

And our raft heads off downstream without us. And now we're in the gorge with no raft, not up the creek without a paddle. We're down the river without a bottle.

[Narrator]

Zamon, Dave, Mike, and Grant stand there trying to process what has just happened.

[Zemon Kingi]

We're absolutely devastated. We're gutted. And we're standing there. You're listening to this incredible roar. And I remember looking up and just kind of looking up at the gorge and at the same time of being Gobsmacked and devastated. Just being overwhelmed by the beauty that I'm looking at, these falls that are cascading down, and just this incredible gorge that we're standing in. It was an overpowering sensation.

[Narrator]

Zemon's in a daze, but gradually Dave's voice bubbles back to the surface. He can hear him shouting across to the others. They're discussing next steps.

[Zemon Kingi]

We never lost hope. We never had a moment to say, oh, woe is me. You know, like, it was always, okay, this has occurred. What are we going to do next? We kind of had a huddle, and we knew that we had the four rubber tubes that were sitting on the bank.

[Narrator]

Time to regroup and recalibrate. Don and Andrew are still out here somewhere. They've got to find them. And so the four stranded rescuers pick their way upstream to where they stashed the rubber rings. The plan is to fashion a makeshift raft out of the four tire inner tubes and continue downriver. But there is a problem. A deep, turbulent, violent problem. To try and run the rapids on a makeshift vessel like that would be madness. Instead, they'll need to carry the tubes as far as possible along the base of the cliff before launching into calmer waters. The end of the gorge is only a few hundred meters away, but stretches of the bank are impassable, repeatedly forcing them to wade through the treacherous water.

[Zemon Kingi]

We started walking down, but the walls of the gorge were super steep and in some places vertical. So you're in the water, you know, with the tube kind of navigating around rocks and trying to make your way without getting pulled into the current.

[Narrator]

Inch by inch, they make progress along the gorge. After a while, they bypass the waterfall where they capsized yesterday. But there's still no sign of dawn or Andrew. At one stage, their route is blocked by a fallen tree. They manage to find a way underneath it by squeezing through the gap between the roots and the rock wall.

[Zemon Kingi]

And so we get into this little gap and we're up against this tree, and as we're going through, someone starts yelling, and then we all start yelling and we're all getting stung by these wasps.

[Narrator]

Blindly swatting at the stinging insects, the team scramble through the tunnel and out the other side. Red hot welts begin to burn all over Zaman's face and arms.

[Zemon Kingi]

We come out the other end and we're all stung and, you know, lips and all our faces were all swollen and hands and everything. And I remember Dave telling us that you put mud on it because the mud will take away the pain.

[Narrator]

Smeared in clay, their skin throbbing, Zemon and the others continue making their way along the inside of the gorge. As they go, they scour the river for Andrew and Don, to no avail. By now, evening is approaching, forcing the team into yet another tough choice. Do they keep searching or do they find somewhere safe to camp?

[Zemon Kingi]

So the decision was made that we were going to spend the night there in the gorge. We weren't going to swim in the river and we were going to try and climb up as high as we could up into the corner of this gorge as high as we could because we knew it was going to rain again that night and the river was going to rise, right? So we wanted to get away from the rising water.

[Narrator]

They climb up to a patch of trees overlooking the gorge. High enough that even with more heavy rain, the rising river won't touch them. Hopefully, wherever they are, Don and Andrew have taken the same precaution. The sun has dropped behind the mountains, now taking the heat of the day with it. Soaking wet, filthy and covered with wasp stings, it is going to be a long, uncomfortable night to stay warm. As the temperature drops, Zemon crosses his arms over his chest and asks Mike to tighten the straps of his life jacket.

[Zemon Kingi]

I recall putting my hands inside my PFD and asking Mike to kind of just cinch down on the PFD so that I could be snug like this. And I remember falling asleep with my arms inside my PFD and then having this nightmare. I had this dream that all of a sudden I'm in the river, right? And now I can't swim. And I remember just thrashing around violently and screaming and shouting and Mike waking me up and then consoling me. You know, I burst into tears and was crying and I remember him giving me a hug and saying, you're okay. You're going to be all right.

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[Grant]

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[Zemon Kingi]

Today.

[Narrator]

It'S daybreak down at the water's edge. Zemon, Dave, Mike, and Grant stand looking out of the river where it meets the headwalk at the top of the canyon. The violent, thundering wave of white water crashes up the rock face and around the bend in the gorge. It's a terrifying sight after another near sleepless night. The toughest part of this assault courses upon them. They've managed to lash the four inner tubes together with a length of rope. Not a bad piece of improvisation under the circumstances. But will it survive the head wall wave? Only one way to find out.

[Zemon Kingi]

We lashed everything, walked upstream, looked at each other, and I remember Grant saying, whatever you do, do not let go of the tubes, right? And so, yeah, we jump in and we start kicking as hard as we can into the center current. And immediately we were just swept underwater, pushed up against this wall.

[Narrator]

Zemon holds his breath as he's engulfed by the wave. His world goes dark, the only sound out of the churning water. His eyes are squeezed shut. He's being whisked along by the current at breakneck speed, but still he doesn't let go of the rubber tube. He clamps down with his forearm even as he's flipped upside down. He braces himself for a fatal impact with rock, but instead he feels a sudden upward jolt.

[Zemon Kingi]

And then next thing is, we pop up and we look around and all four of us are still attached to the tubes, right? We're like, yes, we survived and swept around the corner. And we knew from that point on we'd survived the gorge and we'd survived all the worst rapids and we'd made it. Now what we had to do was to find Andrew and Don.

[Narrator]

Any sense of relief doesn't last long. Scanning the calm stretch of river in front of them, there's still no sign of the missing pair. Are they running out of luck? Was it ludicrous to think they could ever find them in this vast, dark jungle? They continue floating downstream, calling out for Andrew and Don. Zeman cranes his neck and shields his eyes from the sun. And that's when he sees something strange up ahead.

[Zemon Kingi]

I'm looking up, and I remember looking downstream and seeing two helmets on a rock, right? And I yell out, and I like, oh, you know, what's that? And then all of a sudden, we see these two heads pop up. And then we start yelling and waving, and then these guys start waving back to us. And sure enough, it's Andrew and Don, you know, and we couldn't believe it.

[Narrator]

Zeman paddles harder than ever over to the rock where Andrew and Don are waiting.

[Zemon Kingi]

We're able to kind of pull in behind that rock, clamber out. Mike was able to give his son a giant hug. And we all hugged each other and we just couldn't believe that they were, they were alive and that they were safe and that they were okay.

[Narrator]

In this giddy, joyous atmosphere, Andrew and Don start recounting their epic story. Turns out when the raft capsized two days ago, they were pulled back underneath the waterfall. By the time they swam out, the raft had already vanished around the corner. They then heeded Dave's advice and positioned themselves on a rock in view of the river. Only as the water rose, they had to keep climbing higher and higher. When they saw the empty raft float. By yesterday, they were forced into a high stakes decision.

[Zemon Kingi]

Are we supposed to jump into this raft and make our way down or are we supposed to wait? And so there was that conflict between what they should do and what they'd been told to do. And they decided to let the wrath go. And they said it was just, you know, a really traumatic decision because afterwards they kept questioning and asking themselves, was that the right decision to do?

[Narrator]

Thankfully, they made the right call. But now the six adventurers must confront the scale of the challenge that remains. They've still got a long way to go, A journey of around 12 miles. And they'll have to make it. Squeezed onto what are effectively four small rubber rings. They come up with a system whereby four people will take turns sitting in the rings while the remaining two do shifts. Swimming alongside, they paddle out into the middle of the river, picking up the center current. And for a while, things are going to plan. They're making progress. Perhaps this nightmare is nearing its end. Then Zemon spots something in the distance, just above the surface of the water.

[Zemon Kingi]

I remember sitting up and looking downstream and kind of watching and seeing what I thought was a log, and then looking, and then I could see that actually this log has a couple of nostrils on the end of it and there's some eyes behind those nostrils. That's not a log, that's a crocodile.

[Narrator]

And a big one at that. Zemon can't tell from here, but this beast could well be a saltwater croc, more territorial and aggressive than their freshwater cousins. He yells to the group, who freeze, Barely daring to breathe. The group watches the crocodile, watching them.

[Zemon Kingi]

We see it coming towards us and Then you see the tail kind of swish and it goes under, right? So this thing kind of submerges and we're now floating towards where it was. And you've got six guys on four rubber tubes. You got bums in the tubes, you got legs sticking out, you got arms out to the side. And we're all looking at each other thinking, who's it going to be?

[Narrator]

Zemon waits for a sharp tug to pull him beneath the surface. But it doesn't come. They float on down river. A few miles on, they make a discovery. The raft. It's caught in a bamboo thicket near the bank, but seems to be unscathed. Grant swims over to it and drags it back over to the others. They all gratefully climb inside.

[Zemon Kingi]

We all get back into the raft and then we discover we've got all this food on the raft and we think, okay, great, let's have a feast. You know, we've survived thankfully, we're now all alive, we're on the raft, we're out of the river, here we are, we can get to the takeout and now we can go home.

[Narrator]

And that's exactly what they do. With renewed strength, they make light work of the final stretch. A few hours later, exhausted, aching, scratched and sunburnt, Zemon sits in the back of the Land Rover as Alu drives them home to Port Moresby. After three long days in the jungle, they finally made it out, all of them in one piece.

[Zemon Kingi]

I just remember getting home, Dave dropping me off and then saying to my mum, Mrs. Kingy, we left with two boys and we came back with two men.

[Narrator]

In the months that follow, the full impact of Zemon's three days in the jungle takes time to sink in. He soon moves on to the next adventure university. But as the years pass, Zemon comes to see his experience on the Angabunga as one of the most significant moments in his life, an incident that would shape things to come.

[Zemon Kingi]

It opened the door to all of these other ventures that, to use the metaphor, came downstream as a result of this.

[Narrator]

During his first week at university in Auckland, New Zealand, while signing up to various clubs and societies at the freshers fair, one stand catches Zeman's eye. The university rafting club. He approaches and strikes up a conversation.

[Zemon Kingi]

They said, have you been rafting before? And I said, yeah. And they said, where have you rafted? And I said, papua New Guinea. And they go, oh, man, we've got a raft guide. And I'd only been as a passenger, you know, twice before. I mean, it was just a whole bunch of super enthusiastic people who wanted to go down rivers and then became a commercial raft guy. Went back to New guinea and worked in a lot of my holidays. So I would go back and work in PNG for Pacific expeditions and then became great friends with Dave and Grant. And to this day, we're still in touch.

[Narrator]

Zemon's experience on the Angabunga sparks a lifelong love of rivers, inspiring him to travel all around the world on epic kayaking trips. But what about the others? In the following years, Zeman often wonders about the Mulhollands, how the event impacted their lives. He and Andrew lost touch after leaving for University. But in 2018, Zemon arranges to meet up with Andrew, Shuna and Mike in a London pub to hear the story from their perspective. And for a brief moment, the separate tributaries of their lives come together in the same river again.

[Zemon Kingi]

For all of us, it was such a defining moment in our lives. It was a major event. You know, it was a bucket list item of mine to take them out for dinner and sit down and say, what happened to you? For me, that circle moment of meeting again in that London pub and sitting down with Andrew and his mum and dad and seeing them face to face and, you know, we cried, we hugged each other. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. It was a, it was a full circle moment. Sorry, man. Just getting a little overwhelmed. But as you can tell, this story's had a deep impact on my life.

[Narrator]

Next time on Real Survival Stories, we meet Viv Bird, a British aviator whose plane is thrown off course by an Arctic blizzard. When Viv and her friends crash land into a frozen wilderness, no one knows they're alive. Their radio batteries are dying and they have no idea where they are. Rescue appears almost impossible as a freezing tempest swirls around them and darkness sets in. The three friends settle down for the longest night of their lives. That's next time on Real Survival Stories. Listen to Viv's story today without waiting a week by subscribing to Noiser Plus.

[Shuna Mulholland]

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[Viv Bird]

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