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Published: January 29th 2008
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Day 105 - Sunday 13 January
We'd been contemplating skipping the canoing through the everglades trip, as we've just spent the past few days camping in the rain, and don't really want to spend the next few days doing the same. However as the sun is shining were going to risk it and hope the rain holds off.
At half ten we took the bus to Noosa. On arrival after a little difficulty in finding somewhere to stay we managed to get in somewhere. Its holiday season at the moment we really should book ahead.
We had another deliberation about the trip but as its still fine outside we headed off to the supermarket to buy enough food and snacks to last us for the three days.
I'm sure there are things to do here and were just in the wrong part of town but as we didn't even see a pub on our 15 min walk back there was little to do for the rest of the day except catch up with events back home, a bit of psp action and the chance for me to write some of this diary.
Day 106 - Monday
14 January
Although only overcast now the bad news is theres supposed to be heavy storms tonight. I'm hoping like back home the weather forecasters are often wrong.
At 8am the minibus arrived and we loaded our stuff before driving across town to pick up all the camping gear. We then took a boat across the bay where our canoes were waiting. After being given a map and told where to camp and suggested places to go, we were told thats it your on your own, well pick you up in 48 hours.
We were just going to load up and go but as all the others on the trip decided to have a bit of a practice paddle first we thought it probably best if we did the same. As we were on the edge of the bay it was a bit choppy and after only about 2 minutes we capsized our canoe. It was full of water there was no way we were going to be able to get back in, and as the water was too deep we had to swim towing it back to the little information jetty we'd started from. We were
fighting a strong current and its a good job were both strong swimmers. Nobody else had stopped or tried to help us, I can see they will be a friendly lot to spend the next 2 nights at the campsite with.
Back on dry land I noticed a sign saying due to man eating sharks in the water you shouldn't swim in the water. Its not like I had a choice in the matter. It was also a good job we hadn't loaded up our canoe or we'd have lost everything.
Well thats enough practice it should be smoother down the river anyway, so we loaded up our gear and paddled down the river for half an hour before stopping for lunch. Whilst eating lunch we noticed these big lizards hanging around the picnic area. I wander what other creatures await us tonight.
After lunch we paddled some more to a huge lake where we upped paddles and drifted for an hour whilst we recovered. Its tough going this canoing especially on the shoulders. We didn't have a clue what time it was but guessed it must be late afternoon so headed towards camp. Unfortunately we had
to paddle against the current and it seemed like we were paddling for hours. Russ wasn't helping either it was ok him sat at the back doing the steering I was having to do most of the work. We were way ahead of the other canoes but he seemed hell bent on trying to get to camp as fast as possible. It was a great relief to reach the campsite and have a rest.
After putting up the tents, everybody headed to a covered picnic area a couple of hundred metres away. I'm not sure why they did this as it looked like its going to rain very soon and everybody's just got changed into their last set of dry clothes. Sure enough as soon as we reached the picnic area it began to rain very hard. Luckily someone had brought some cards so we could pass the time. It was also a lot earlier than I had previously thought , it was only half three so there was quite a lot of time to pass. Luckily me and Russ had also brought 4 litres of cheap wine along.
It was still raining when it went dark and we were still stuck about 200m from camp. Even running you'd get soaked long before you'd get back. Eventually a spanish bloke cracked and ventured into the rain. About 20 mins later he returned with all the lights and some cooking stoves. It was rather decent of him. Unfortunately all my food was still at camp. I didn't fancy getting wet so I carefully negotiated away some of my food to a young english bloke who hadn't brought much in exchange for him getting it.
We were in the middle of cooking when the fire on our cooker started going out. Now i've done it several times before although admittedly not after drinking a litre of wine but we'd been given a bottle of methonal to use as fuel. So I just poured it straight from the bottle onto the flame to get it going again. Now I must have been too close because the whole bottle was now on fire and in my hand (thats never happened before). I quickly threw it away incase it exploded. As the lid was off a load spilt onto Russ who quickly went up in flames. I tried using my jumper to smother the flames but nothing happened. Luckily the rain had created a huge puddle so Russ superman style dived into it. This still left the can on fire so I kicked it towards the puddle. Unfortunately it hit a pillar and the whole picnic area went up in flames. Thank god it was raining. The bush was all wet and using the cooking pans and the huge puddles surrounding us we managed to put it out. I might well have been watching the news in a couple of weeks watching peoples homes in the noosa region burning down and it would have been all my fault.
Afterwards we all had a big laugh about it before deciding we'd best call it a night even though it was only half nine. Its still raining and walking back all the paths are flooded. The waters at least a couple of inches deep and god knows what bugs are swimming in it.
Day 107 - Tuesday 15 January
Woke up to find the river has risen a metre and a half overnight and burst its banks. The whole place except our little camping area is flooded. Thanks to my great scouting skills, me and Russ were also dry. Everybody else's tent has leaked except ours. We're supposed to do more canoing and walking today, but as all the paths are flooded and if it rains anymore our campsite will also flood, we decided enough is enough, were going to abandon the trip and head back to dry land and a hostel.
I waded back to the picnic area to check we hadn't left anything behind in the chaos last night and was greeted by a huge snake (see attached photo). To think I was thinking of sleeping on that table last night if the rain hadn't temporarily eased.
After a couple of hour paddle we made it back to the info hut and awaited the next group to arrive and start their trip. I wish them luck. About 10 am the boat turned up, we explained the situation and showed our photos. The tour company immediately halted all future tours apparently they haven't seen it so bad for years.
Back on dry land we booked into a hostel. I spent the whole day staying dry watching films on the tv or doing some reading. It had been fun but i'm glad i'm not spending another night in the everglades.
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