Last weekend was an eventful one. We were both recovering from our colds so Saturday was a rest and recovery day for me and a 1/2 work day for Lindsay. In the afternoon we were picked up by our new friends Bec and Andrea and headed up the road two hours to a town called Tully. By the time we got to the camp site it was dark so we set up the tent and met up with the others for a little dinner. There we met our guides for the following day. We were going whitewater rafting.
We got up early and headed up the road to the top of the river. The Tully river has a year round flow due to hydroelectric plant upstream. We pumped up the raft, brought it down to the river bank and then we waited. When we arrived the river was much too low to run. We knew that in about 2 hours the dam would release either 44 or 88 (units excluded) of water which would make the river run-able. In the meantime we got in the boat and practiced our safety stuff.
Finally the river came up and we were off. It was a warm day so the frigid water felt great. About 5 minutes after starting, we approached our first rapid "Wet and Moisty". The Aussies love this type of phrase. The bread is "hot and toasty", the cheese is "Light and Tasty", and the beer is "cold and lousy"(my contribution).
So as we approached W & M rapid I noticed that we were hitting every rock and seemed to have no control. I asked our guide how many times she had done this river. "Oh this is my second time. I just finished my guiding course but I don't have much experience on this river." I could tell 4 minutes later as the boat hit a large rock in the middle of the river and proceeded to turn upside down. All 5 of us were thrown off into the river. We popped up and got back in the boat.
The scenery was great. Waterfalls, rainforests, and what seemed like a hundred multicolor kayaks flying past. After a nice leisurely section of the river we approached the next rapid "Corkscrew". After getting stuck in the middle for about 10 minutes we were suddenly free and heading for a very narrow waterfall that would lead us to safety. The last thing I remember was the sound "Oh s--t" and then I was swimming again. This time only 2/5 got thrown from the boat.
The rest of the trip was less eventful, but it was painfully clear that this guide was a novice. After about 2 hours we pulled to the side and the leader asked, "You guys ready to go again?" Despite the 3 inch effigy of my father on my left shoulder yelling "this isn't safe, you are gonna get killed, what the hell are you doing," both Lindsay and I said "yup".
Back on the river. This time was a touch better (it was now her 3rd time). We made it through W & M using nothing but luck. As we approached Corkscrew, I had a sinking suspicion that we were about to get wet. We came up with a plan of attack. "This time", the guide said "back paddle as soon as we drop down the waterfall." That sounded reasonable. I can back paddle and as we dropped over the lip of the falls I had a split second of confidence that everything was going to be OK. That is when the boat tipped. I came up under the raft so I had to push down to find another way up to catch a breath of air. I got to the surface, took a deep breath and prepared to ride out the rest of the rapid. I assumed the proper safety position with my feet heading down stream. I saw Lindsay who was safely swimming to the side and was about to call out to her when I slammed the back side of my pelvis into a large submerged boulder. Needless to say the pain was quite intense. I was able to swim to the side, but it took me a while to get out of the river.
Both the rest of the trip as well as the car ride home were challenging, but nothing compared to my attempts to dress myself the next day. At this point I am still not sure if I actually broke my coccyx or if I just have a couple deep soft tissue bruises. Either way, in the words of countless movie police sergeants on the eve of retiring, "I'm getting too old for this crap".
Lindsay has been taking care of me.
Below is the link to our pictures.
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