Thomson and The Lilo
Perched around the campfire, Greg and I perused maps, our interest piqued by what we noted as Canoe trail sections on the nearby Thomson River. A loose plan was formed, one in which Greg and I, with 4 children under 4 in tow (literally), would take on section 2 of this trail the following morning. I went off to bed with a strong desire to shout “We ride at dawn!”
Climbing under the bridge in Walhalla, our respective partners handed us 2 lilos, a small inflatable dinghy, a bottle of drinking water, a UHF radio, and 4 small children wearing an assortment of floatation devices, and whom we promptly loaded into the dinghy, to be towed alongside us. “Farewell”, we shouted, “see you in a couple of hours at Coopers Creek.”
Pop! That was the dinghy, and we were only 10 minutes into the trip. Ah well, we’ll load the children and the deflated vessel between us on the lilos and continue on. Whilst the Thomson isn’t known for being a river of great rapids, as we passed over shallower waters, we had to work hard to keep ourselves and our cargo in some semblance of order. In contrast, where the waters deepened and the air around us dripped in the heat of the day, we were engulfed in the incredible beauty of our location. Dragonfly’s of green, blue, and magenta shades took refuge on our bodies as we meandered along with the lazy flow of water. This was a paradise experienced only by those silently passing through, time standing still in the most mesmerising way.
Whoosh!! Pace quickening, Greg soon disappeared around a bend, with 3 out of 4 children along for this part of the ride. They were quickly out of sight and I had to get my focus in check, working my hands this way and that, a 2.5 yo perched in front of my head, grinning and laughing as we dug deep to cover this section. Rounding another bend, we were greeted by the sight of Greg, standing thigh deep in water, 2 children tucked under his arms and a third one perched on the shoreline. No lilo in sight. Approaching them swiftly, we bustled the children over to the bank for a reprieve and a reset, noting also the loss of our UHF radio and drinking water. With no UHF, and mobile phones being only a new trend at this stage, we had no means of communicating with our families. So now we were 2 adults in the water, and 4 children on a lilo, making our way down the Thomson, and feeling like we had won the lottery with the excitement and richness of the adventure.
A lilo! Up ahead we spied the runaway lilo, bobbing quietly at the river’s edge, patiently waiting for its crew like a well-trained pony who has been separated from its rider. I let go of my niggling concern that our support crew would be anguished at the sight of an empty lilo arriving at our final destination, and once again immersed myself in the adventure.
Rumble, rumble, rumble. The rushing sound came closer as we approached Horseshoe Bend, a notoriously tricky section of the river, where half of the river disappears into a tunnel in the mountain, and travellers on the water are required to portage up a long hill on the opposite side of the river, returning to its fold further downstream. Carting 4 children, 2 lilos and a deflated dinghy up a mountainside, with the temperature sitting at approx. 38 degrees Celsius, had me beginning to question our mission. Returning to the river, the lure of cool water pulled us down the hill with renewed vigour. We quickly established that it was too tricky to re-enter the river at the designated launch spot, due to the long drop between land and water, so we continued bumbling along through the crackling dry, knee deep grass, me silently willing any snakes in our path to please crack on without us. Back on the water, I breathed out.
Drifting and paddling, discussing our hunger and how we would satisfy it when we arrived at our destination, we all too soon approached Coopers Creek. Ok, it may have felt like too soon, but the reality of being 3 hours past our planned ETA could be read on the faces of our partners, these expressions soon softening to resemble relief, and the embracing of 4 small children who had just had the greatest adventure of their short lifetimes. Their little voices jabbering away with titbits such as, “we got stuck” and “we lost a lilo” and “we walked barefoot through snake territory…” Ahem, let’s talk about that later, who wants ice cream from the shop?
Sally Ingram.
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