Mr Pauley (32), a nurse in Sydney, was tramping from Lake Roe to Mt Tamata on Saturday with a man he met on the track.
After reaching the summit, the pair turned to walk back and about 30 minutes later Mr Pauley lost his companion when he bent down to adjust his walking poles.
He carried on, following markers on the track, before losing his way.
After taking a compass bearing, he began following the ridge south, but ended up at "what appeared to be a bluff".
"I backtracked and tried to find an alternative route, but had no luck."
Mr Pauley then followed the ridge in a northwesterly direction.
"I followed that down and managed to get some of the way, but the line just became rougher and rougher.
"I sidled along with a view to get back up but then I fell about 2m, which put me in a situation where I couldn't retrace my steps.
"The ground was really treacherous."
Mr Pauley said he continued to sidle along, hoping to get to a point where he could climb back up, but it was while he was doing that he fell a second time.
"I fell on my backpack so I was basically sitting, crawling along the side of the cliff face."
Just before 11am, Mr Pauley fell for the third and final time.
This time the drop was 20m.
His fall was broken by a "little ledge".
If it had not been for that ledge, Mr Pauley would have tumbled about 200m.
"While I was falling I knew I wasn't going to die.
"I knew this wasn't going to be the end of me.
"I was still vertical . . . so I took my pack off and put it over on another [smaller] ledge and held on to it while I made my way down to the next little ledge, which was a bit safer.
"I got my locator beacon out and turned that on and secured it and then bought my pack lining out, which was bright yellow, and attached that to the ledge.
"There was no space whatsoever.
"The ledge that I was on was a little bit bigger than the size of a seat - there was no room for myself and my pack.
"I was crouched up in a ball . . . but once I was there and turned on the locator beacon and got the pack liner out, I knew I had to just wait it out."
Mr Pauley said it was about three and a-half hours before Southern Lakes Helicopters reached him, which was right on schedule by his calculations.
"I figured they would need about an hour and a-half to get the helicopter and get in my general search area."
While trapped in his precarious position, Mr Pauley heard the helicopter do a pass before it came back to pick him up.
"When I saw that helicopter, I was just so joyous.
"One of the ambulance officers happened to see my bright yellow pack liner . . . she saw it and at that stage it seemed like they were passing me by."
Even though the helicopter arrived a short time later, Mr Pauley said he had everything he needed to just "wait it out".
"I had my wet-weather gear with me, I had water and food, a lighter and some fuel tabs to make a fire to get the helicopter's attention."
The National Rescue Co-ordination Centre Mission Controller, Keith Allen, said the Southern Lakes Helicopter, piloted by Richard Hayes, located Mr Pauley perched precariously over a steep drop, unable to move up or down.
"[Mr Pauley] was picked up in a very difficult manoeuvre by swinging a rescuer on a long line from the helicopter and carefully winching him back to safety," Mr Allen said.
Mr Hayes said it was the worst position from which he had ever been required to recover a live person.
Mr Pauley said he went over and over the incident in his mind yesterday and could not quite comprehend how he managed to escape with only minor cuts and bruises.
"I can't believe it.
"It's just totally unfathomable how anyone can fall 20m like that and only get cuts and bruises and be so close to a 200m fall.
"It defies belief. I can't explain why I'm alive."
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times from his parents' Mosgiel home yesterday, Mr Pauley said the incident had not put him off tramping.
He will return to Sydney on Sunday, but said he would be back in New Zealand next month with his girlfriend to do another tramp.
"I need the outdoors. I love it, but I think I'll be a lot more cautious next time.
"I don't know that I'll be rushing to do any of the harder routes for a while . . . but then again, maybe I will."
