The AM Show host Mark Richardson has shared his "exhausting" ordeal of trying to get back to dry land after nearly being caught in a rip while surfing.
Richardson said he had been surfing at one of Auckland's West Coast beaches when his leg rope was snapped by a wave and his board was swept away in a rip.
"West Coast beaches are quite dangerous," the former professional cricket player said on Tuesday morning's show.
"My board was in a rip and it was floating out to sea and I was desperately trying to avoid getting in that rip, so I'd given up my board - I didn't mind, it could go, as far as I was concerned.
“I just wanted to get in - that was not an easy task, I can tell you that."
The broadcaster recalled being rolled around by the waves due to strong currents and left with no floatation device.
The AM Show co-host Amanda Gillies said Richardson was "lucky to be alive", which he dismissed as an exaggeration, however he was aware things could have been much worse.
The Block NZ host said he had learned a good lesson from the scary experience, admitting: "I did have to calm myself down a little."
"I surf all the time and I don't consider it dangerous... but I was pleased to be back on shore. I was tired and it was exhausting," he added.
Despite having bid goodbye to his board, Richardson said a fellow surfer had recovered it for him after the incident.
