Going UP the Murchison

"It's important that you keep together, guys.  It's a big river.  Access is not very good.  Stay in sight of one another!"

Kamikaze Kim at the wheel of The Bus on the Highway to Hell (after it had dried out)

Galena

A stop was made to check out the water level at Galena Bridge.

Hardabut

 One could hardly make the drive into Kalbarri without diverting into Hardabut Rapids.  The mud and dirt that had collected on the sides of The Bus was scraped off on the trip down the narrow, scrub-lined track.

 It was Brentís first view of Hardabut  - a view he described as "mind blowing".  He summed up his thoughts on the rapid "To picture the last expedition going through that - one way in - no way out.  Rapid after rapid and no recovery time for probably about half a kilometre.  To enter the jaws of Hardabut you would certainly have to an optimist."

 There was disagreement as to whether there exists a path through the Rapid.

The Seaside Resort of Kalbarri

Cresting Meanarra Hill provides a magnificent view of Kalbarri and the mouth of the Murchison River.  After setting up camp at the Anchorage Caravan Park there was still plenty to do.  A wood search party was despatched and concluded a successful mission an hour later.

Cliff and Greg fitted a 10hp carby to th e Suzuki.  The remainder of the afternoon was spent setting up the boats for another assault on the gorges of lower Murchison.

Up the Murchison (Again)

There was no need to pack up camp - allowing an early start.  The boat crews were away by 0650.

On the water driving into a rising sun and avoiding obstacles was difficult.  Driving through scattered trees was good fun.  Some prop changes were needed.  One of the motors had a gear shift lever vibrate loose causing a delay.

Further upstream the boat crews entered masses of ti tree extending for many kilometres.  Greg reckoned that these "were the best ti-trees I have ever seen".  For Brent it was "absolutely fantastic".  It was difficult keeping the boats on the plane finding a path through the thickets.  Adrian reflected that there would be just as much difficulty getting through the trees on the return journey.

The three support crew in the 4WD followed the boats upriver to Murchison House.

The boat crews left the ti trees and entered the start of the gorges.  A magnificent sight.  As the gorges narrowed small rapids started to appear between long, long pools.

Greg pretending to be a rope

Taking a break

Backing out of a dead end

Cliff at the helm
 

Swan

"Look Mum, no hands"
 

Near the loop

Near The Loop
 

Near The Loop

More magnificent cliffs
 

At the turnaround point

Near The Loop

Yet more magnificent cliffs

The support crew headed to The Loop where they passed the time chatting to the various groups of tourists that arrived for the walk to Natures Window.

It was to be a long wait for the boats.  Eventually the distinctive sound of outboard motors could be heard.  The heliograph was very effective in getting the attention of the boat crews. 

Then came the physically demanding task of carrying 60L of fuel down the hill to the boats.  Tony bitched the whole way.  At least the fuel containers would be empty on the way up.

 After refuelling the boats and the bodies the crews took off upriver, planning to reach Z Bend.  Kim Thorson swapped places with Brian.

Kim, Tony and Brian heading back to the carpark at the The Loop after refuelling
 

Adrian and Kim look on while Greg and Brent
negotiate a rapid on the way back to The Loop

Rapids, Rapids and More Rapids

The further upriver from The Loop the boat crews pushed, the bigger and stronger the rapids became.  Greg reflected "the rapids were hard to get up and heaps of fun.&n bsp; We got stuck on a rapid; there were a few hairy moments":

A large rapid near Four Ways, just short of the Z Bend, halted the upriver journey.

The glass boat tended to nose dive into the rapids.  After seeing the ducks perform Brent recanted his earlier statement about them and declared that he too was going become a ìtartî.

The consensus among the boat crews was that a 25hp was needed on the back of the boats. 

 Adrian and Kim Thorson made one last attempt to go up the rapid but were unable to get to the top.  They had to turn around in the middle, nearly swamping.  They came through OK but figured that once was enough.  Adrian contemplated a solo attempt but rejected it as being too risky.

Plenty of goats and rock wallabies were seen.  They scattered when they heard the sound of the outboard motors.  The boat crews determined that it was time to head back towards Kalbarri.

There were plenty of rapids

The rapid that stopped upriver progress

Near the turnaround point
 

The turnaround point

Waiting,
Waiting,
Waiting

Kim Epton, Brian and Tony headed to the Z Bend to meet the boats - if they could get that far.

At The Loop Scott made his way up to the top to leave a message for the support crew.  The local RAC man, playing tourist, volunteered to keep an eye out for the 4WD and pass on the message to the support crew.  He eventually left a message under a windscreen wiper blade of the vehicle when it was parked at the Z Bend while the support crew was down at river level.

They waited until 3.00 p.m. at which time they decided that the boat crews where not going to reach where they were waiting.  On their return to the carpark the note on windscreen confirmed their suspicions.  They returned to Kalbarri.

.

Bocky and The Phantom

The trees extended for forty kilometres

Mike and Mark

Lame Duck

Blasting over rapids and through ti trees, the boats made good time.  Out of the cliffs and on to the coastal plain.  Adrian took a wrong turn, hit a submerged rock and spun his boat into the bank.

A sharp stick punctured the starboard pontoon.  With a healthy dose of ingenuity, and a length of fishing line, Scott stitched it up.  The sides of a boat or the pontoons of a duck are only there to keep out the water.  So with Kim Thorson three up with Greg and Brent, Adrian was able to get the duck on the plane.

Although it looked like he was driving a "lame duck" it didn't perform like one.  He really scooted along.
 

Lame duck

Scott sewed up the outer pontoon of the stricken duck with fishing line
 

Throughout the expedition Greg and Brent were always elected to carry the excess weight

Would you like to meet this man in a dead end alley on a dark night?

Pull Down,
Pack Up and
Head Home

Monday was a slow morning. 

The packing up went at a very gradual pace 7.40am when there was a frenzy of activity to meet the 8.00am deadline. 

Red Bluff and other coastal gorges were visited before a stop was made at the Hutt River Province.  A leak in the vacuum system was the only interruption to an otherwise mundane homeward trip.

Who need sides?