A Seedy Day 5.

Okay, to  pick up where I left off we made it to Mt Beauty in time for dinner with our friend Geoff and his little dog Billi and ate enough dhal to choke a cow. That was all well and good but what happened in the afternoon of day three is what I really wanted to write about. The incident started with Geoff suggesting a hike through a spot the locals call Mermaids, and Jess and I love a good wander so we headed off. This spot is well known around here as a swimming hole and fishing spot in the warmer months, but when it gets cold, and it gets really bloody cold as the water source for the river there is mostly  melting snow from the top of the surrounding ranges.

We were all rock hopping up the river in the late morning (excluding Blue who was off playing with the cows) to see how far we could get up the hikers trails. The paths that were beaten out by decades of hairy mountaineers (much like Geoff) had been over grown with blackberry bushes by this point, and anyone who has seen these bushes know that they're a spiky, clingy pain in the arse so they're best to be avoided. After a good half an hour of wandering up the river we found a point that we couldn't get past without getting wet so we decided to turn back, only to find that we couldn't see the rocks that we used to get there in the first place. What was happening was either the afternoon sun was melting the snow in the peaks, or the hydro-electric dam was releasing water from their catchment because they knew heavy rain was on the way, but whatever the hell the cause was, we were watching the river rise really quickly.

With very fast rising and fast moving water taking away more and more of our options we decided to take off our shoes and stick the shallow water to make it back to a clearing, but we had to be really quick because if the water depth reached about thirty centimeters it can take you off your feet and you'd be going for your last swim down the rapids. The water was too murky to see where the rocks were and because it was so cold our skin began to burn. Have you ever had freezing cold feet and then stubbed your toe? Well that was the next 5 minutes. When we finally made it to a dry spot on the side we were still a good few minutes from being home free. We had to decide to either get back in the water, which by this point was looking really risky, or tackle the blackberry bushes along the side of the embankment. Jess and I had jeans solid jackets on so it wasn't too bad for us, but Geoff was wearing shorts. He took point through the bushes and we all started tentatively making our way through. When we were finally clear his legs looked like they'd been attacked with a hedge trimmer.

As hairy as this could have gotten I'm glad we went through it- it's just another story to bore my future grandchildren with, except by then it will have evolved to have a hundred meter waterfall, acres of poison thorns and the Loch Ness Monster.

Since then we've been on a few more hikes (although not nearly as death defying), had quite a few more beers and some really good shit-talking sessions. We've got a bit more adventuring to fit in before Sunday when we head to the Gympie Muster country music festival in Queensland, but for now I'm off now to sit in a big recliner with an over-sized television and relax, I think we've earned it.

Geoff's friend Sarah's pooch. It has dread-locks!