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No Wimps Allowed
A power dinghy expedition
through the Murchison River Gorges
after Cyclone Bobby in 1995
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MURCHISON BUSHWALKING No-one was relishing the task confronting them. Even though a lot of hard work had been put in the day before, a big job awaited the Team to finish the recovery of the boats and equipment.
John Haynes remained at the caravan
park to rest his badly swollen leg. Mike Lenz also had to rest his injured
knee and elected to drive the hire car into Geraldton and pick up David
Whitney. |
 These two were there to scare off intruders |
 Let out for the day |
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 John was left at the Caravan Park to rest his leg |
 Breakfast at the Anchorage Caravan Park |
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The remainder headed out of town in The Bus and the 4WD. Fifty kilometres later at Hardabut Rapids the heat of the sun was felt before the job started.
The Recovery Team was split into two
groups. One group helped Tony pick a path through the bush for the 4WD. He
was able to crash the vehicle through the scrub to a point about midway
between the clearing where The Bus was parked and where the boats had been
left. |
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 Deflating Cliff's boat |
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 The flex in the alloy pole made it difficult for those in front |
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Scott summed up the recovery operation when he succinctly stated: “Lift Drag Drop Drink. Lift Drag Drop Drink. Lift Drag Drop Drink.
Lift Drag Drop Drink.” |
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 Two more to go |
 Scott Shane and Dave take a break |
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 The smiles were only on the outside |
 Even though the load was very heavy, it was actually easier with one person at the front of the pole |
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 Tony's trip through the bush reduced the distance the boats had to be carried by about half |
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Although the exercise cost a staked tyre, any reduction in the distance the boats had to be carried was a relief. The other group removed an eight metre annexe pole from The Bus roofrack and carried it into where the boats had been left.
Each boat in turn was deflated and
lashed to the pole. With three men at the end of each pole the task of
recovering the boats and other gear from the mountain goat territory was
considerably easier. |
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 The result of the above |
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The location where David had left the motor the previous day after it cut his finger was not precisely known. After a short search Kim Thorson and Cameron Wilkie located the finger crushing motor (fifty metres up a cliff) and carried it back to The Bus after making a harness from a throw rope. Scott Overstone’s fitness and Cliff Hills’ persistence made the boat recovery task easier. It still took four hours. By 1.30 p.m. all boats were loaded on the roof rack of the 4WD. Kim Epton and Bill Breheny guided Tony along the tyre tracks through the scrub on the return to where The Bus was parked - nobody wanted another staked tyre.
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