At 12 noon on Sunday about 200 people leapt from the sunny comforts of the St Clair Esplanade into the 10°C South Pacific Ocean at St Clair Beach.
Abandoning their cappuccinos, eggs benedicts and other lazy Sunday restaurant brunches, these 200 had one goal: to be at one with the ocean's icy embrace.
And that is how I found myself standing next to a skinny, shivering man twice my age and with a smile twice as wide as we watched a nun and a priest get completely obliterated by an unnaturally fierce shorebreak.
The nun eventually floated to the top, but if she hadn't then I'd bet that Hulk Hogan, who was standing to my right, would have got to her before the actual Incredible Hulk, who was starting to smudge and smear his green self into the sea just behind my left shoulder.
This folks, is the annual Polar Plunge, a Dunedin tradition to test the extremities of the human body and a rollicking good excuse to turn mad for an hour (or more for the bravest). It's a frantic race, but the destination remains a bit of a mystery as the sea turns super heroes into drowned rats (above), makes vikings cry and grown Mayors (below) squeal with delight.
The whole shrinkage-inducing affair is washed down with a high-pressure blast of hot water from the fire trucks and a warming soup. The sight of bedraggled super heroes drying off and laughing away the cold is a fitting tribute to the real heroes here: the members of the St Clair Surf Life Saving Club for whom this crazy, fun event is a fundraiser for.
If you didn't quite pull your red superman undies out of retirement on Sunday, then scroll down a few shots here and let these inspire you for 2013.
Speaking of super heroes, make sure you mark July 7 in your diary for Dunedin Derby's Mid-Winter Brawl. As mad as a bowl of polar plungers, these wild lasses combine fishnets with roller skates and throw in a handful of full body contact for a great spectacle. It's on at the Edgar Centre – find out more here.
See you at the beach ...
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