Without a paddle! Part 2

Friday arvo my boss made some lame joke to James and I about cuddling for warmth. We laughed merrily at the time, clutching a fresh beverage tightly within our grip.

My feet were dreadfully bruised and James was blistered from his sandals. Not too far to go now, the track should lead off the road and back into the bush. I assured. The pace was really slowing up and the temperature was dropping. We mindfully tried to dodge small stones laid out over the track which weren’t causing difficulty when we started but my feet couldn’t possibly take any more.

It was never considered what we might find when reached the hut. The hut was hidden in the night and we almost run into it before realising we had finally made it. Hastily we searched for Dad. The hut was full of walkers, so we scurried up the embankment and check the tent area. This too was full, but not with the tents we were expecting to see. Our worst fear was now starting to grip us, as we paced further up the track to where the car should be parked thinking the camp may have been set up there because it was already full. I argued. But it was over, and I knew it before we reached the road… Helplessly we looked up and down the track, but there was no sign of activity. Not even some fresh tracks to indicate he had been past.

The weather report said it was going to be five degree’s that night, maybe even a little less out here in the valley. Desperate and depraved, we headed off back towards the hut seeking some warmth. Just out the front of the hut was a sleepy camp fire burning bright red amongst the austere gloom.. Our saving grace and refuge we agreed. We raced over to it and stood in its radiance. And soon enough the piss soaked wetsuits started letting off a horrid aroma, but who are we to complain!

We decided to do some investigation around the hut to see who was around. One of the happy hikers woke by the noise of us stalking the hut and pointed her headlight at me to have a gander.. “I know you” she exclaims, “You’re that guy from last week”. How could she be right, last week some 100-odd-kilometres away, I had awoken her in the exact same manner on a cold Friday night. She must have thought I was a right twit.. And honestly I felt a little embarrassed, seeing as though I swore last week I’d never leave home without a tent. This time I didn’t even have a sleeping bag!

Up on the top bunk just above this person was a right surprise. Alex and Bell the intrepid female adventures from last week’s tramp were curled up snug in there minus ten sleeping bags on cushy down mats. Briefly I thought about waking them up and inviting me and my piss soaked wetsuit up for a crude spooning. But as tempting as a warm sleeping bag and some hot girls sounded, I wasn’t up to waking them in the middle of the night. I’ve had my own experiences before with an axe wielding psychopath in the dead of the night. I was stood helplessly against a tree while he blinded me with an intense beam of light, making crazed suggestion about burying me out here in the bush… Could you imagine the reaction I would get waking a chick up in the middle of the bush, while blinding her with a head light! Freezing beside a fire sounded far more lucrative… Plus, I’ve got a girlfriend! Maybe I should have sent James the Titan Ranga to test the waters first.

The shivers had started setting in as our bodies steadily lost the warmth we gained from moving. I knew it was the first sign of Hypothermia and if the second phase of uncontrollable shivers set in I knew I would need to seek some help. Fast. Sitting beside the fire was our only real hope to get though the night as it didn’t look like Dad wouldn’t be coming any time soon. We stoked the fire and waited..

The night just got longer as the joke grew tired and disillusioned. We attempted to sleep off the hours, but couldn’t shake the cold. Back to back, hugging the fire ring with our legs.. Nothing would work! Spoon??? Hell no! That shit was only ever funny on “Without a Paddle”, which strangely enough resembled this exact same situation. I can’t stress my friendly readers how long the night was, and it really made me think about those who have been much less fortunate then we were.. Holding on to life for days on end in some small icy confinement, often with broken limbs!

The next day couldn’t have come soon enough, and when we heard the hollow call of a kookaburra we both felt relieved. But the situation was still rather tense. While we might be getting a chance to warm up, it didn’t give reason as to why my Dad hadn’t turned up. By this stage I was thinking the worst. Seriously if he couldn’t find the road he definitely knew the trail in. He could have packed a bag and walked in with some essentials. What could have happened that he couldn’t walk?

As the morning broke a few of the campers came to join us around the fire. We shared our story and one of the guys offered us the use of a sat phone. Initially I turned down the offer thinking that he probably wouldn’t get reception, but as the morning hurled into full swing I gathered I may need to stimulate some action.. I called the ranger. The ranger was great and offered to help us conduct a search. I knew the basic procedures, which determined that I couldn’t leave the pickup point for any reason including to search. So with some eyes on the ground I was pretty confident we’d track the wonderer down. It took a fair while, but eventually we heard the sound we had been listening for all night.. Cars arriving. Dad looked horrific, he blamed himself but we reassured him we were fine.

It’s funny how everything is forgotten once the first beer arrives! All the suffering the night before now just became another great saga full of adventure and peril. And even better when the intrepid female adventures woke from there deep slumber and called out gleefully when they recognized me. Kind of excited, probably just shocked they were happy to see us and divulged there plan to take the day off for a rest. Super, we thought knowing we had heaps of drink and food which we never got into the night before.

All in all it was a top weekend and I’m still planning to give this paddle another go if I can find the time before the water recedes. It’s also inspired me to look into some ocean yak’ in.. But that’s for another time.