Daan at the canoes
Camping on canoe trip
View from Yahoo rock
The 3-day canoe-trip that Daan and I undertook had been highly recommended everywhere, and we were very curious. I had been in a kayak one time before for 2 hours, and Daan had the same amount of experience with a canoe. The canoe-trip was without any guidance. It was simply following the (Ord) river that flows from Lake Argyle to Kununurra (53 km).
We got a description of the trip in which a number of obvious points were described. In addition, a German couple was just ahead of us, so we could easily see where to go to. Despite the fact that they were nearly twice our age, they were doing a lot better than us. As they fully made use of the flow of the river, he only had to put his peddle into the water occasionally, and she could lie backwards on the front of the canoe. Contrary to this, Daan and I had to exert ourselves to the extreme quite often, making our faces glow red in order to keep up with them. When we occasionally encountered the flow of the river, it resulted in a beautiful pirouette that made us shout things like "What are you doing?" and "It wasn't me, that was you!". Thankfully, the canoe had two watertight barrels on board in which we put the stuff that had to stay dry, like our cameras. This made us feel a bit more at ease.
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Daan at the canoes |
Camping on canoe trip |
View from Yahoo rock |
It was quite interesting to see everything from a water- level perspective, but it was tricky taking a photo, because the canoe just could not be kept motionless. Although there were two of us in a canoe, only the rear person can really steer well, and the front person can mainly produce speed with peddling. We didn't see all that much wildlife, actually we only saw birds: an osprey, corellas (a couple of hundred flying over us) and a local variety of the darter, which we also have in The Netherlands. At one time, we could even approach a pelican to about 3 to 4 meters while it was cleaning its feathers. It is a very big bird when you are so close. It had the size of a swan.
We saw a baby crocodile (30 cm) that was resting on the weed while we canoed past it. Furthermore, we saw a monitor (lizzard of more than a meter) when we got ashore somewhere. We wanted to explore an Elephant- rock there (so called because of its shape), in which we succeeded. The only problem was that both of us had forgotten to notice where we had gotten ashore. So, when we wanted to return, we ended up looking for the canoe for over an hour in thick shrubs, while getting increasingly nervous. During that hour, we saw a wallaby hop away.
In retrospect, it was absolutely fabulous, but also quite tough. The rowing was painful for the shoulder muscles in the back, but not half as painful as our bums. Spending hours on a (very hard) bench in a canoe is very painful in the end. By contrast, the muscle-ache was not that bad; muscle-ache of sporting exercise is much worse and lasts much longer. Otherwise, the trip was without problems, we did not capsize and usually managed to go into the right direction.
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View from Elephant rock |
View from Elephant rock |
Sleeping Budda |
Daan and I had booked a 3-day trip to the Bungle Bungles National Park, to which we had been looking forward very much. In order to get there, we had to go for about 2.5 hours by tar-sealed road, and then drive another hour and a half over a 4-wheel drive track. That really meant that you needed a terrain vehicle, otherwise you would not get through. Therefore, the organisation possessed a genuine off-road vehicle, an Oka, and the first 10 minutes we shook and rattled without any trouble across the road.
After a little while, we all smelled something strange, like burning rubber. By now, we were used to some things, so we didn't think too much of it until the driver suddenly yelled: "Get out, the car's on fire!". The cabine quickly filled with smoke, and while I was still trying not to panic and get out quickly, the driver had gotten hold of the fire extinguisher and was putting it to work. After that I could get out while he extinguished the fire underneath the truck. And then we were there: In the middle of the road in a deserted part of land, in between dried cow-dung and underneath a very hot sun.
The electric wiring had completely melted and burned. The alternator was still making funny click noises while the keys had been taken out of the ignition. I explained the driver that this could only mean that there was a short circuit somewhere, and that the battery had to be disconnected. While he tried to operate the satellite-phone, I disconnected the battery (which was rather loose already!). After that, I convinced the driver that he should not try to connect the spare battery, becaues the short circuit could be anywhere (the old battery was very hot, which led us to believe that there had been a short circuit somewhere that had heated the wired so much that the tape around it had caught fire). I also advised him for the same reason not to fire up the engine again.
After an hour of fumbling with the satellite phone, at which Daan helped, he had not been able to make a connection. I decided to take a look as well. The display said "Searching" which meant that it could not find a network (meaning satellite). Then the driver tried to make a call, which didn't work. This was logical because it couldn't even find a satellite in the first place. Therefore, the problem was that the satellite was not being received. That led me investigate the antenna, which was still neatly folded against the back of the phone. Wihtin a minute after having unfolded it, we had a working connection and people were sending us help. That way, my telecom education had proved to be useful after all.
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Oka truck just after the electrical fire stranded us |
Snow Gum tree close-by |
Rescue forces at our Oka truck |
We waited there for seven hours (from 10 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon), also having lunch there (we carried food and drinks for 3 days with us). They brought a new car from Kununurra, and tried to repair the car on the spot. Later, we heard that they had succeeded to drive the car back, but in doing so had gotten an oil leakage and had wrecked the engine. So, my advice not to start the engine anymore had been a good one.
The next 2 days, we managed do fit in the entire 3-day itinerary of the trip. The Bungle-Bungles were phantastic. Deep gorges (about 100 meters) with a beautiful red glow of the the sun at the right moments. Enormous bee-hive like rock formations, and stunning views. Each day, we got up at 5.30 (the sun rises at about 5.15) and we went to bed at about 9.
